Ahmedabad

A 70 meter high commercial building Shapath V is Ahmedabad’s tallest building. But this 19 storeyed building on SG Highway built by Savvy group is not just known for its height. There are some other features that have made this building a remarkable one.

1. Shapath V has been constructed using green building norms. It has been built using fly ash bricks. It has been built by keeping top soil conservation in mind. Flushed water goes to water treatment plant where waste water is reused to great extent for purposes other than requirement of potable water.

2. It is the first one in the state to get LEED GOLD rating from the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) for all the green features it has.

3. Shapath V has its own sewage treatment plant.

4. Those hiring offices in this building are guaranteed 30% lower electricity bills. Since two and half years of existence this has been realized. It is thanks to availability of natural light(maximum windows on north side, minimum opening in south facade) and chilled water based HVAC system plus Heat Recovery Plant.

5. Shapath V has 100 solar panels over its top having capacity of 15,000 liter hot water everyday.

6. Shapath V has 2.75 m speed elevator which is the fastest in Ahmedabad.

7. Shapath V has censor based pressurized staircase area which means whenever there’s an incident of fire, the censors identify the trouble and release air with pressure to keep fire away from staircase and lift areas. The building has system that prevents spread of fire from one floor to another floor.

8. Shapath V has water based air conditioned system. Those having offices here are not allowed to have conventional kind of air conditioning. They need to have water based AC only if they at all wish to have one.

9. ITC, Hyundai, Samsung are some of the companies having office in this building.

10. To avoid “Sick Building Syndrome”, Shapath V has some special features to manage IAQ (Indoor Air Quality). These include round the clock supply of TFA- Treated fresh air in each offices & each foyer and passage area; HRW- Implementation of Heat recovery wheel which treat the outside air and segregate hazardous contaminates from that air before supplying through TFA duct and Co2 Sensor- a carbon dioxide sensor or CO2 sensor, an instrument for the measurement of carbon dioxide gas. The most common principles for CO2 sensors are infrared gas sensors and chemical gas sensors. Measuring carbon dioxide is important in monitoring indoor air quality, the function of the lungs in the form of a capnograph device or to maintain the proper oxygen level into the premises. The building also has BMS System – Building management system, which regulates the whole building for fire, plumbing, electrical, HVAC and whole IAQ management. IAQ Management i.e. indoor air quality is the key feature of Shapath V. A special IAQ analysis has been undertaken for the building and on the basis of the same, VOC- volatile organic compound free paints have been used in the building. Proper building flush out is also made available to remove stains of any hazardous substance. All refrigerant in the building are CFC free – chlorofluorocarbon which is also harmful to health. The material used for the routine housekeeping procedure is also green-certified so that it does not have any adverse impact on the health of the occupiers.

Showcasing the unique features of Shapath V to media persons today, Jaxay Shah and Sameet Sinha of Savvy Infrastructures Pvt. Ltd said additional 15% cost of construction is attached to any green building project, but its worth spending. There are premium companies that prefer to occupy office only in green buildings. In BKC Mumbai or Gurgaon, green building construction has become very common.

Sinha hinted out that Ahmedabad may host Green Building Congress by end of this year. He said the entire exercise of conceiving a green building begins with sun path analysis. They said the next buildings in Shapath series will also follow same green norms. On challenges to build green buildings they said there was non-availibility of material and skill five years ago, but for last few years, availability of skill and resources is better.

Jaxay was of opinion that government should implement single window system and give concessions to green building projects.

-DeshGujarat