IGBC AP- Indian Green Building Council-Accredited Professional
In this post the important points on which questions are based in IGBC AP exam are listed.
The aim of of Green Building design is
1.To reduce/avoid disturbance to original topography(top soil, trees, slope, rocks, drainage) of the site to reduce soil erosion and protect biodiversity.
2. To reduce negative impact to environment from automobile pollution.
3.To reduce extracting natural resources like water, wood, minerals etc..
4. To discourage use of virgin material in building construction.
4.To protect ozone layer and atmosphere from CFCs and GHGs.
5. To encourage physical, emotional and spiritual well being of occupants of building.
6. To protect micro climate of building site and surroundings.
7. To minimize energy consumption from fossil fuel and encourage renewable energy.
8. To protect the welfare of construction labor .
9. To discourage the use of toxic materials in all stages of construction and during occupancy stage.
10. Protect mother earth from all possible negative effects associated with buildings right from construction stage to occupancy stage and demolition stage.
Sustainable Architecture:
1. Integrated Design-Intent to provide high performance building- Involvement of different professionals like Architect, Structural engineer, MEP(Mechanical, electrical and Plumbing) consultant, commissioning consultant etc., can result in effective planning of building in design stage and results in improved building performance with respect to structural integrity, water conservation, energy consumption, fresh air ventilation, ease of movement of differently-abled etc.,
2.Site Preservation Topography refers to the physical features of site like trees, soil, natural storm water drainage systems, slope and natural formations like rock etc. Efforts should be taken in planning the building to minimize the disturbance to original topography of the site or the disturbance caused to be restored by planting vegetation and constructing alternate drainage systems etc.
Refer igbcapexamnotes.blogspot.com/2021/09/sedimentation-and-soil-erosion-control.html
3.Passive architecture features to minimize energy demands of building like getting shade from other buildings or trees, north south orientation, windows and skylights , light wells, pergolas, punched windows, selection of glazing, window to wall ratio, etc., result in improved energy efficiency in the building(reduces the energy demand for lighting and HVACs).
Following are some measures of Green design through passive architecture features
- Exterior openings having projection factors 0.5 or more (projection factor is the ratio of length of overhang to height from window sill level) in other words , length of projection shall be at least half the height of opening in order to effectively provide shade from sun.
- The building opening and natural lighting can be so designed to achieve 50 % of the regularly occupied spaces with daylight illuminance levels for a minimum of 110
Lux (and a maximum of 2,200 Lux) in a clear sky condition on 21st September at 12 noon,
at working plane.
Site Selection and Planning:
1. The site should be selected close to basic amenities like schools, hospitals, banks and recreation centers etc., - The intent is to reduce usage of vehicles to access these amenities and thereby minimizing the vehicular pollution.
2.The best way to protect the existing fully grown trees at site is to integrate them in building layout. If removing the trees is inevitable then tree transplantation and planting new saplings to be sought for.
3.Site with more than 20000 Sq.M area should obtain Environment clearance from MoEF(Ministry of Environment and Forest).
4. If local bylaws are stringent than the requirements of green rating systems or reference standards, then the building should comply with local bylaws.
5. Grass paving, shaded walkways and covered parking and roofs with terrace gardens help in minimizing the heat island effect. Heat island effect needs to be reduced to protect the micro climate of building and surroundings. Roof coatings with lighter shades and coatings with optimum SRI will also help in reducing heat island effect.
SRI(Solar Reflectance Index) is the ability of the material to reject heat.
6.Native and adaptive and draft tolerant tree plantation is encouraged to protect bio diversity and to reduce water requirement for landscaping.
7. Protecting the top soil(top 10 to 20 cm) of the site is important as it is rich in organic matter and microorganisms which are essential for plant growth. Top soil of brown filed site(refers to already used site-mostly with industrial activities) need not be preserved if it is contaminated.
8. Swales and check-dams slow down the velocity of storm run off and thereby help in soil erosion control.
9.Soil testing of site can be done to decide on most suitable plant species that can be planted at site.
10.Disabled friendly provisions to be designed as per National Building Code of India.
11.National Building code(NBC)-Part 11 talks about Sustainability.
12.NBC has classified country into 5 climatic zones.
1.Turf /Lawns in landscaping require highest amount of water for irrigation. It should be kept to minimal in landscaping design to reduce landscaping water demand.
2.Soil moisture sensors help in improving the efficiency of water usage in landscaping.
3.Uniform plumbing code of India is reference standard for baseline flow data for plumbing fixtures.
4.Runoff coefficient highest for asphalt roads and concrete paving and less for unpaved areas(soil topping), vegetated land and areas paved with grass paver blocks or open grid paver blocks. To conserve more rain water through natural infiltration( to not to let rain water escape quickly from site area) areas or paving with low runoff coefficient to be chosen.
The runoff coefficient for unlined pond is 0.
For more rainwater conservation at site the run off coefficient of paving material should be low.
5. Root zone waste water treatment can be adopted for treating both grey and black water.
6. Xeriscaping is a practice of designing landscapes which need little or no supplemental water for irrigation .
7. Evapotranspiration is the process of evaporating water from leaves through plant transpiration during photosynthesis.
8. Buffalo grass is a type of turf which is drought tolerant and needs less water than normal turf.
Energy efficiency:
1.Lighting of the building to be designed based on ECBC(Energy Conservation Building Code) standards.
2. Energy efficiency in lighting can be achieved by choosing lighting fixtures with low LPD(Lighting power density-Watt per sq. foot).
3. Baseline values for calculating energy efficiency to be referred from ASHRAE-90.1-2010 standard.
4. CoP(co-efficient of performance ) requirement of chillers in HVAC can be referred from BEE.(Bureau of Energy Efficiency).
5. ECBC launched by BEE.
6.. Heat recovery wheel reduces the temperature of incoming fresh air, there by reducing energy demand of cooling systems.
7. VFD(Variable frequency drives) helps in reducing energy consumption of motor by altering the motor speed as per demand.
8.LED lights are more energy efficient lights that can be chosen for indoor lighting.
9. ECBC code is applicable for buildings with 100 kW or more connected load or 120 kVA of contracted demand or 1000 sq.m or more air Conditioned area.
10. External area lighting to be designed in such way so as to not to disturb the nocturnal environment and night sky accessibility.(which means the external area lighting should be as dim as possible so that it does not affect the nocturnal (Owls, Bats and some animals and insects thrive in night time) environment.
11. Energy Performance Index (EPI) is the key metric used for bench-marking energy usage in commercial building. EPI is the energy used per unit area measured as kWh/m2/year or kWh/person/year.
Sustainable Building Materials:
1. Rapidly renewable wood like Bamboo and Eucalyptus, certified wood are considered green wood materials.
Wood certification bodies:
- FSC-Forest Stewardship Council
- PEFC- Programme for Endorsement of Forest Certification
PEFC Certification has mainly two kinds of certification programme:
Forest Management Certification (FM)
Chain of Custody Certification (COC)
2. Metal (like Mild Steel or GI) can be considered green as it can be reused.(this was one of the questions I faced in the test)
3.As far as possible , locally available material to be used in building construction, as it helps in reducing pollution from transportation of material from long distances. The rating system asks for material procured within 400 km radius for compliance.
4. Flyash bricks are example of materials with recycled content- post industry and pre-consumer.
5. Waste generated during construction to be segregated and reused to the maximum possible extent , so that sending it to landfills can be avoided.
6. Agricultural products with less than 10 years of harvesting time are called rapidly renewable.
7. Excavated Earth and stones can not be considered as reused/salvaged construction materials as they are natural resources.
8. Biomethanation is a wet waste composting process by which we get energy/gas/electricity and nutrient rich compost as products.
9. C2C or Cradle to Cradle certification of products is a globally recognized measure of safer, more sustainable products made for the circular economy.
Indoor Air Quality:
1. Fresh air ventilation -Reference standard-ASHRAE-62.1
2. Thermal comfort- Reference standard -ASHRAE -55.1
3. CO2 sensors in densely populated areas to be kept in breathing zone(3ft to 6 ft from floor level).
4.As per green building requirement , fresh air intake should be continuous-not intermittent or not whenever the air quality drops.
5. Paints, Adhesives, carpets and wood can emit VOC(Volatile Organic compounds). These material should be chosen so that their VOC content does not exceed the values tabulated in rating systems.
6. Urea formaldehyde should not be used in composite wood manufacturing. Instead phenol formaldehyde bound composite wood to be chosen.
7. Printer rooms, chemical rooms and Janitors, which can emit VOCs should be provided with exhaust , separate room and deck to deck partition so that the contaminants do not enter regularly occupied spaces. These rooms should be maintained at negative pressure of 5 Pascal.
8. The air handling system is the distribution method for air . Protection of the system during construction is mandatory to
keep the system clean and free of visible dust, debris and odour contamination.
9. Exposure to VOCs can aggravate disease in people with respiratory ailments.
10. Fresh air intake of non Air conditioned buildings can be improved with larger values of ratio of openable area to total carpet area.
11. The fraction of particles removed from air passing through a filter is termed “filter efficiency” and is provided by the Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) under standard conditions. Higher the MERV better is the filter efficiency.
12. Ingress of Outdoor pollutants can be minimized by providing air filters
It is recommended to install air filters of MERV=> 13 or EU 7 in incoming air duct to effectively filter the outdoor pollutants.
13. UV lamps can be placed in the air ducts to disinfect the air form viruses, Bacteria and Fungus.
Mock Test-1 -Sustainable Building material
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfFoBPhDXu793icskhaBLlYnUzLuCywlwsweJt8kSG61Hdj2w/viewform?usp=sf_link
Mock Test-2 -Water Conservation
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfsSOQQipECQ8XbStxYczutaDZW76YmhZ4t_fUN7y96wTLQrg/viewform?usp=sf_link
