adapting cities for climate change

8/6/2019 Adapting Cities for Climate Change

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Adapting Cities for Climate Change‘Treat the planet well, it was not gifted to you by your parents but it is loaned to

you by your children’

Cities, a place some can’t live without and a place where some spend a lifetime aspiring to live in. How

did our generations before us live and survive with our cities. Did we have the concept of cities then?

What are Cities and who ‘invented’ or rather ‘discovered’ them? Cities have emerged due to people’saspirations and desire to expand and overpower. Land which until about 3 decades back was never looked

up to as a money generating source is today been abused against its natural wish and capacity.

Natural disasters and calamities due to our lifestyle and inhuman behavior is a case of worry. Science

mentioned facts on how the ice of the Arctic caps would all melt down by 2070 which did shock us but

we carried on thinking we wouldn’t be possibly there to witness this incident. Now today the time frame

for the melting of the ice caps is claimed to be less than a decade from today!

Cities today are being built with infrastructure, buildings, amenities etc to show the world what nations

have to move forward, the rise in population is giving rise to the demand for more built spaces to occupy.

Little do they realise that they are moving towards destruction of our future which we are yet to see but

which looks all dark. Climate change is a new paradigm associated with this dark path we all are walking

towards and the movement has a few crusaders, non-believers and a few who are least interested with

this phenomena.

The change for a positive future has begun but not enough. The developed countries are at an all time

high and still going strong with their carbon emissions while the developing nations are facing the

challenges and are given a task to mitigate the effects of climate change. We all are of the opinion that a

lot can be achieved through restructuring our cities, designing better buildings, using efficient materials

and technology but what needs to change at priority are the priorities themselves. The agenda of

mitigating climate change must be to provide inspiration to our society and placing the society and itssocial fabric at the forefront. Today it’s not about designing and building for comfort and luxury but

building for ‘survival’!

India doesn’t have a history of carbon emissions but is now in the forefront due to economic

development and its ever increasing population. Effects of carbon emissions are greatly seen to impact

the developing countries the most which they cannot afford as well like other developed and

industrialized countries. Changes and alterations in climatic factors like rise in temperature,

precipitation, humidity etc will lead to disturbed outputs in sectors of agriculture, biodiversity,

infrastructure development etc (Ref: www.indiaclimateportal.org). Today India is the 4th largest emitter



of greenhouse gases and is travelling towards becoming the 3rd largest by 2015. India’s per capita CO

emissions are approximately 1 tonne per annum, compared to a world average of 4 tonnes per annum.

Coal and other fossil fuels are used abundantly for production of energy utilized for manufacturing,

electricity for different sectors and in the building construction industry. Our Government has launched

various policies and incentives to combat climate change and the use of fossil fuels. Bangalore has

adopted low-emissions rapid transit system to curb emissions, while on the other hand Delhi is giving

away incentives for buying electric vehicles like the REVA. States are forming committees and forums to

exchange ideas and thoughts on climate change with multi disciplinary stakeholders like politicians,

activists or even the youth. Developers of a certain class are also venturing into the construction of Green

Buildings which has a huge impact of mitigating effects of climate change. The building construction

industry itself contributes to about 50% of the energy demand in the world and with the growing demand

for buildings and the downfall of peak energy demand is something to worry about. Buildings today are

also the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions single handedly. The latest IPCC report states:‘improvements in the energy efficiency of buildings could potentially reduce projected global carbon

emissions up to 29% by 2020, and up to 40% by 2030’ (Ref: declanbutler.info/blog). How is this

achievable? How do we come down with our energy demands and usage in buildings? Who monitors and

manages this sector? The solution to all our answers is: ’Design Green Buildings’.

Figure: Electricity Production in India, 2006

(Ref: www.indiaclimateportal.org)

Green Buildings today are not only emitters of harmful CO2 gases but also other harmful gases such as

halocarbons. Buildings designed today will last for a long life span and therefore its effect will help

mitigate climate change in the coming years. Buildings and its emission content can be analysed through

its Life Cycle Analysis. Buildings today use more than 80% of its energy in the operational phase through

various processes like lighting, ventilation, cooling, use of appliances etc. Whereas only the remaining

20% of the energy is used during the construction stage of the building in materials, transportation,



construction processes etc. Therefore the efficient use of energy in the post occupancy stage in a building

is of prime importance for mitigating the impacts of built space on our environment. Energy in buildings

is primarily consumed during the following activities:

To promote energy efficiency worldwide especially in developing nations it is important to have certain

indicators and systems in place. Energy performance indicators help measure the performance of energy

efficiency and consumption in buildings. Government can also set certain standards/codes to promote

an reach certain benchmarked building performance levels. The Energy Conservation Building Codes

(ECBC) touches upon these aspects of the built space to cater to energy efficiency in buildings in India. At

present the ECBC is mandatory for buildings with a connected load of more than 500Kw and covers

stages at the construction and operational phase of the building like Building Envelope, Hot water

systems, Mechanical Systems, Lighting and Electric pumps and motors. Decision makers like

Government bodies and other stake holders can look towards achieving the following: 1. increase energy

efficiency in buildings; 2. increase energy efficiency of energy consuming appliances; 3. encourage

companies generating and distribution energy to support emission reductions in the buildings; 4. change

attitudes and behaviour of users and policy makers towards energy consumption; 5.promote the

substitution of fossil fuels with renewable sources of energy. Commissioning buildings to regular energy

audits and having a dedicated team for environmental management during the operational stages of the

buildings will increase the efficiency of the systems installed and also help save energy in buildings.

These trends will also move slowly and steadily towards designing and buildings of zero energy buildings

i.e., buildings which meet all energy requirement on site through renewable energy and without the

support and connectivity of any grid electricity connection.

Manufacuring of building materials :

Embodied Energy

Transportation of materials from

factories to sites:Grey Energy

Construction of buildings:

Induced Energy

Operation of builings:

OperationalEnergy

Demolition of buildings: Recyclingparts and materials wherever possible



So how do we prioritise our actions towards mitigating climate change? Different sectors and

stakeholders have a different priority list which they need to address:

Policy makers:

(Ref: Buildings and Climate Change, UNEP Report)

Local corporations:


Establish national levelregulations that make energy

efficiency mandatory for all newbuildings and in renovation of

existing buildings

Conduct inventories of energy consumption, efficiency and

emissions of the building stockto establish base-lines & setperformance goals to reduce

emissions

Retrofit all publicly ownedbuildings for high-level energy

efficiency and deep GHGemission reducions

Establish an energy efficiency investment fund to be used topromote initial investments and

renovations in buildings,meeting the minimum energy

use benchmark

Support to capacity building toenable and increase energy

efficiency in existing and newbuildings

Support climate adaptivemeasures and goals through

twinning programmes betweencities and towns in developed

and developing countries

Develop climate changestrategies and action-plans with strategic goals to be

achieved by 2020

Make all publicly ownedbuildings climate neutral, and

all new buildings energy positive by 2020

Agree on a commonassessment and evaluation

process to monitor progress ontackling climate change



NGOs & Society:


Private Sector/Developers:


Advocate, communicate andshare information

Train professionals currently working in the building sector

and educate the nextgeneration of professionals to

implement sustainablebuilding principles and

practices

Help communities adoptclimate friendly behaviours

and lifestyles

Facilitate leadership andbridging efforts

Work with governments to

develop policies that make adifference & act as agents of

change

Work to introduce a carbontrade mechanism forbuildings

Renovate buildings to

maximize the reduction intheir emissions and improve

climate adaptability

Demonstrate technology andknow-how frontiers on their

own buildings and rentedoffices

Dedicate Research &Development to climate

neutral, zero net buildings

adapting cities for climate change

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