LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT OF BRICKS AND EVALUATION OF VARIOUS GREEN BUILDINGS RATING SYSTEMS FOR INDIAN CONDITIONS

Abstract

The pace of growth of building sector in India is putting tremendous impact on building materials, water, energy and environment. The traditional building materials such as bricks, wood and locally available materials are not fitting into economic and energy efficient measures which are the prime requirements of sustainability. In India, buildings are built using conventional construction material and the use of recycled or reused materials is still for demonstration purpose only. Due to embodied carbon in the construction material and due to electricity usage, buildings also remain as potential CO2 emitter. Globally, the urban areas contribute 70% while the housing construction and estate development contribute 40% to the GHG emissions. Buildings contribute approximately 50% of the world's air pollution, 42% of GHG emissions, 50% of water - pollution, 48% of solid waste and 50% of CFCs (chiorofluorocarbons) to the environment [GRIHA Manual Vol 1, 2010. Thus green building design practices with environment friendly techniques are becoming popular across the world as they emphasize on energy efficient, environment friendly and region specific techniques to suit climatic conditions. The reusable and recyclable building material is given preference. The green buildings require a complex set of sustainability criteria related to a wide range of resource and material use which is often difficult to package as a single regulatory instrument upfront for enforcement. The green building rating system provides the guidelines for measurement of green practices and certification. The advantage of the rating system is that it helps to disseminate green building practices outside the realm of regulations that are often impeded by structural and institutional - barriers. Green building rating is a practice that has the potential to become the iv standard. But it needs to be widely understood by building owners, architects, building managers, and occupiers to make an effective impact. The dissertation analyses the importance of green building rating system in Indian climatic zones. The popular rating system in India such as GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment) and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) have been analysed and compared to cover the benefits and shortcomings. The case study has covered the Indira Paryavaran Bhawan, New Delhi which has been awarded highest certification by both the rating systems. The report analyses the importance of life cycle analyses (LCA) of building materials so as to choose sustainable materials with minimal environmental pollution without compromising the design, comfort and strength aspects. The relation between - LCA and Green Building Rating System has been emphasized in order to construct green building. The LCA of bricks suggests that alternate building materials such as FaLG bricks, Concrete blocks made of flyash and other flyash products prove efficient and environmental friendly in comparison to traditional clay fired bricks.