HIGH-RISE APARTMENT BUILDINGS AS A SUSTAINABLE BUILDING TYPOLOGY IN THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT

In light of the growing Indian economy and increasing population, it is estimated that a majority of building stock that will exist in Indian cities in 2030, is yet to be constructed. Coupled with rapid urbanization, it is evident that India has a significant potential to reduce future building energy consumption, the building sector being a major source of emissions in the country. Meanwhile, growing comfort standards in average Indian households has led to a surge in cooling energy consumption which is expected to continue as the purchasing power in India rises. Since better insulation and air tightness for Indian houses is not yet a likely alternative due to largely unskilled workforce, high-rise apartment buildings (HRAB) as a major building typology in India has been suggested in this paper.HRABs preserve cooling energy by preventing “coolth” loss through shared ceiling/floor between two apartments, the rate of heat loss being dependent on difference in temperature. IES: virtual environment software is used to verify whether HRABs deliver more cooling plant load reduction than other building typologies prominent in India. Typical wall sections and construction material are modelled and a base plan is formulated and tested. It is found that HRABs consume 34.4% less energy for cooling an apartment than an average detached single-storey house. However, the greatest reduction of 36.9% is delivered by multi-storey row houses, but at the potential cost of urban sprawl and increased transportation energy consumption