Sustainability assessment for decision making on alternative architecture options for the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand, India

Abstract

There are many definitions for sustainable development, but the Brundtland report states that “Sustainable development can be defined as development that meets the needs of the present without compromise with the future generations' ability to meet their own needs.” For a better understanding of sustainability, we will look at the Gahrwal region of Uttrakhand. There are many different construction methods applied in the Uttarakhand hills, using a variety of imported and local materials. However, the most dominant construction techniques in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand are the contemporary load bearing masonry and RCC column and slab construction and the traditional Kath-Kuni and Koti-Banal architecture plus variations on these two types of traditional architecture styles, but none of the architectural styles seems to be satisfactory for all stakeholder perceptions at the same time. Currently, the most common materials used in the construction sector in the Garhwal region of the Uttarakhand mountains are RCC with fired bricks (“modern” vernacular). The materials are easily available, relatively low in cost and the construction speed is high. Building seismically safe by using concrete is feasible, although more challenging due to the irregular sloping building configuration (Surana, Singh, Asce, & Lang, 2017) (Singh, Lang, & Narasimha, 2015).