Transforming Built Heritage towards Smart Buildings: A Case of Walled City Jaipur, Rajasthan

Purpose Technology play a great role in development of civilization through various eras. Technology not only influences our business or commercial life, but also our domestic life. The Built heritage of Jaipur is an excellent example of sustainability and energy efficiency with its climate responsive compact design. The recent developments are technology friendly but not the old heritage buildings, thus the heritage buildings need to integrate with new technologies. However, due to lack of appropriate knowledge about the application and benefits of these technologies, people are not able to take its full advantage. The purpose of this paper is to suggest how intelligent building techniques can help in Transforming Built heritage towards Smart Buildings while retaining its heritage character. Methodology/ Approach understanding the smart building construction techniques and explore the application of smart or intelligent technology to apply on heritage buildings while altering the building structure of traditional Havelis so as to achieve an energy efficient and smart heritage building with least possible damage. Findings The intelligent building system focus on how the building technologies can evolve to best meet the opportunities and challenges of the future. Though it is considered to be highly complex with high installation cost but it proves beneficial in the long run, as it saves energy with low operation cost. The system is highly advanced and able to collect data from numerous sensors which control the entire buildings functionality, integrating all the building services. Research limitations/ implications Intelligent Buildings (IB) take end user needs for working efficiency more into account than do ordinary buildings. The application of intelligent building techniques should be applied not only to heritage buildings but we could check on how we can apply it to commercial as well as monumental buildings. Practical implication Knowledge about intelligent building needs to be disseminated to the Architects, town planner, construction industry, manufactures, building owners, actual users and all other stakeholders in the construction industry for their appropriate use. Social Implications Built form of Havelis has evolved in response to the climate, lifestyle and traditional techniques. However, the current transformation is occurring without proper technical expertise and energy efficiency measures without any consideration for its heritage character. Originality/Value The fortified walled city of Jaipur was planned more than 250 years ago, but it is still sustaining the increased population due to its sustainable planning techniques. By integrating smart techniques it can go along with modern life style while retaining its heritage character.