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H
UMANS ARE JUS
t one of the many species affected by
climate change – the number could be anywhere from
four million to 8.5 million, according to various scien-
tific and historical sources. But there is clear evidence that
human excesses have caused significant environmental damage
over the past 100 years, and that we now need to find ways to
reverse this trend or to use natural-resource management that
enable efficiency while continuing conventional development
objectives.
One hugely significant element of this problem is that
nearly 50 per cent of all fossil energy consumed in the world
goes to just one industry: building. This understanding is
essential if humans are to find effective ways of reducing the
consumption of fossil fuel and the damage it does to the envi-
ronment.
For 50 years, many in the environment sector have focused
on how to get governments to enact policies that will make
businesses behave more ‘responsibly’ in their use of natural
resources. Embedded in this logic is a notion that there is a
conflict between markets and the environment.
Beyond the Green Brigade
Over the past decade there has been significant growth in India,
with a compounded annual average growth of eight per cent on
gross domestic product. New avenues have opened out,
enabling some ‘renegade’ institutions in the development sector
to move away from ‘activism’, beyond the current crop of the
‘Green Brigade.’ Instead, they are looking for solutions using
technology, both ancient and modern, which can continue to
serve the conventional objectives of economic development
while being sensitive over the use of natural resources.
Sangharsh (in Hindi, meaning struggle or political activism)
and nirmaan (development that brings social and economic
value) represent polar opposites that have been seen by envi-
ronmentalists and governments in India – and throughout the
world – as mutually exclusive, conflicting objectives.
Management gurus today are beginning to see that the world’s
business sector and governments have to take a different view.
C. K. Prahalad, hailed recently by BusinessWeek as a business
prophet, says: “Increased efficiency through innovation is the
key to sustainable development.” Arthur D. Little talks of how
Sustainable, energy-efficient building:
the BCIL approach
By Chandrashekar Hariharan, Biodiversity Conservation (India) Ltd
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
Zed partial basement
Conventional
full basement
CO2 emissions – MT
1165
10089.56
0
850
900
950
1000
1050
1100
1150
Zed load bearing
hybrid structure
Conventional RCC
framed structure
CO2 emissions – MT
966.1
1144.12
Basement structure
Independent home super structure
Source: BCIL
Source: BCIL