Green buildings are known to consume 40% less energy, but ask one of India’s most attention-grabbing and successful architects what he thinks of them and he says they are a ‘joke’. Hold it, he’s not trashing the idea of sustainable construction, he’s merely ridiculing the blind faith that members of his fraternity place on Western standards and practices.
Meet Hafeez Contractor, the man who introduced apartment owners to classical kitsch. “I firmly believe this talk of ‘green’ buildings is a joke. For example, rating agencies give points on carpets and urinals which do not require water - it is a very narrow view of this problem. What about the land on which it is built, whether it’s farmland or not? What about the forests which will be removed for creating new farmlands? Who will recreate forests?” Contractor told a gathering of architects from across Asia at a discussion in Chennai on Monday. “Land is a precious resource and it cannot be produced. So we must focus on how we can provide accommodation without affecting the intended primary use of that land.”
According to him, conditions in India require unique solutions rather than those imposed by standardised ratings created in other countries like US. Contractor said sustainability had to be seen in light of problems like scarce housing and the need to preserve farmlands to ensure food production. Contractor then went on to showcase his own projects to underline the need for vertical development.
His views evoked reactions ranging from disapproval to instant support. His audience cheered him on, but fellow panelist and winner of a US Green Building Council award Karan Grover insisted that India needed to customise green standards for its needs rather than reject them outright. Contractor countered by pointing out that his projects which did not aim for green ratings were more popular and cheaper to construct.
The debate at the ‘Design Tour’ event continued for more than an hour. Most architects present agreed that ratings needed to be better customised to Indian conditions. Deepa Sathiaram, founder of energy efficiency consulting firm En3, felt criticism of the green rating system was not fair as it was not an objective in itself. “It should be taken as a resource against which you can validate your work,” she said.
“Rating is not a law. It is based on voluntary compliance,” said Chandrashekar Hariharan, a leading SBE (Sustainable Built Environment) specialist. “On the issue of customisation, we have our own residential rating system. We should stop nitpicking on things like carpets and take it as a framework.”
On the issue of maximising use of land in view of increasing population, Hariharan said this was a valid issue given the deficit which currently stands at 42 million houses but a cautious approach was needed. “Vertical development or highrise buildings in other words is what is being proposed as a solution. The current FAR (floor area ratio) values are generally around 2 which are due to obsolete laws but the FAR values of 9-10 proposed by certain architects are driven by business interests and profits. The solution lies somewhere in the middle,” he said.
