Visakhapatnam: All industries and infrastructure development is bound by compliance to Indian and Global norms of design, manufacturing, and construction. As the cost of such compliance is high, liveability or Quality Comforts take lower precedence, allowing mostly basic functional issues to be incorporated into projects said Brigadier Suresh Ramanathan, Deputy Director General and Chief Engineer of Naval Projects, Visakhapatnam.

He was addressing a conference “URJAVARAN – Conference on Energy and Environment” organized by the ISHARE Visakhapatnam Chapter here on Saturday, Brigadier Suresh Ramanathan said rural India cannot and has not been able to maintain higher quality norms due to the cost involved. Bodies such as ISHRAE may render yeoman service to the rural population by developing norms for compliance that are economic, hygienic, easily sustainable. To encourage compliance to such norms by the rural population, the compliance may be linked to social benefits such as subsidized education, farm implements, etc

URJAVARAN, a national flagship programme and ISHARE’s annual initiative towards building engineering services.  With this year's theme, DISHA (Dialogue in Sustainable HVAC & Architecture) is recognized at various locations in India and abroad and mainly it focuses on emerging technologies in Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning & refrigeration (HAVC & R) to support society to lead a quality life.

Underscoring the importance of quality of air in indoor buildings, Dr. B Anand Babu, MEP associate consultant of Genex consultants said healthy indoor air quality in buildings is not only important for people’s health and safety but also promotes increased productivity and better cognitive function COVID highlighted the critical importance of indoor air quality on our health and well-being, and healthy buildings will remain a key part of the pandemic free world. 

Sharing his insightful thoughts on the topic of sustainability and beyond – architecture’s perspective, K Shiva Mohan, Director of Scale Design Collaborative Private Limited said building systems take up to 50% or more of the capital expenditure. Hence, it is important that all complex building systems are considered at the construction stages by involving all stakeholders.  Integrated architectural design has the potential and is the only panacea for designing intelligent, smart, and unique buildings. Therefore, architects have a great responsibility towards sustainability.

Presenting a case study on the “Concepts of energy efficiency” ER Ramana Rao, Retd superintending Engineer of APEPDCL and Certified Energy auditor said Energy conservation is not just a social responsibility, but a personal responsibility to ensure a better future for coming generations. Energy conservation should be inculcated into one’s lifestyle for environmental protection as well as for improving the country’s economy. 

Stating further, Mr. Ramana Rao said, energy efficiency shows a positive impact on macroeconomics and boosts economic activity. “The State government is taking many measures to conserve energy and promote energy efficiency. Every citizen, on their personal front, can contribute their mite in energy efficiency by following simple steps such as purchasing 5-star appliances, adhering to BIS and ECBC codes. As much as 20 to 25% energy can be saved by adopting these measures by following BIS standards, and 35 to 40% with Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) norms,” he said.

Madhu Burra, Chairman of the URJAVARAN, said that this type of conference is exclusively designed to create awareness and share knowledge on technologies and products, which are not only efficient but are environmentally friendly to create sustainable buildings.

Office bearers of the ISHARE PG Mohan Kumar- President, Md. Yaseen- Chairman and G Vamsi Chakradhar- Secretary also spoke during the conference. Knowledge partners for the conference Honey well, Mitsubishi Electric, Haier, Advance Valves, M Space, K Flex, Zeco, Sunrise HVAC, Leminar Global, and Radiant PR Airtech set up stalls to showcase their products and services and gave insightful presentations to the participants.