Green building measures cannot achieve their goals unless they work as intended. Building commissioning includes testing and adjusting the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems to ensure that all equipment meets design criteria. It also includes instructing the staff on the operation and maintenance of equipment.

Over time, building performance can be assured through measurement, adjustment, and upgrading. Proper maintenance ensures that a building continues to perform as designed and commissioned.

Recent studies reveal that buildings with good overall environmental quality can reduce the rate of respiratory disease, allergy, asthma, sick building symptoms, and enhance worker performance. The potential financial benefits of improving indoor environments exceed costs by a factor of 8 and 14

Choose construction materials and interior finish products with zero or low emissions to improve indoor air quality. Many building materials and cleaning/maintenance products emit toxic gases, such as volatile organic compounds (VOC) and formaldehyde. These gases can have a detrimental impact on occupants’ health and productivity.

Provide adequate ventilation and a high-efficiency, in-duct filtration system. Heating and cooling systems that ensure adequate ventilation and proper filtration can have a dramatic and positive impact on indoor air quality.

Prevent indoor microbial contamination through selection of materials resistant to microbial growth, provide effective drainage from the roof and surrounding landscape, install adequate ventilation in bathrooms, allow proper drainage of air-conditioning coils, and design other building systems to control humidity.

Below is a sampling of green building practices.

Siting

Start by selecting a site well suited to take advantage of mass transit.
Protect and retain existing landscaping and natural features. Select plants that have low water and pesticide needs, and generate minimum plant trimmings. Use compost and mulches. This will save water and time.
Recycled content paving materials, furnishings, and mulches help close the recycling loop.

Energy Efficiency

Most buildings can reach great energy efficiency levels. The following strategies contribute to this goal.

Passive design strategies can dramatically affect building energy performance. These measures include building shape and orientation, passive solar design, and the use of natural lighting.
Develop strategies to provide natural lighting. Studies have shown that it has a positive impact on productivity and well being.
Install high-efficiency lighting systems with advanced lighting controls. Include motion sensors tied to dimmable lighting controls. Task lighting reduces general overhead light levels.
Use a properly sized and energy-efficient heat/cooling system in conjunction with a thermally efficient building shell. Maximize light colors for roofing and wall finish materials; install high R-value wall and ceiling insulation; and use minimal glass on east and west exposures.
Minimize the electric loads from lighting, equipment, and appliances.
Consider alternative energy sources such as photovoltaics and fuel cells that are now available in new products and applications. Renewable energy sources provide a great symbol of emerging technologies for the future.
Computer modeling is an extremely useful tool in optimizing design of electrical and mechanical systems and the building shell.

Materials Efficiency

Select sustainable construction materials and products by evaluating several characteristics such as reused and recycled content, zero or low off gassing of harmful air emissions, zero or low toxicity, sustainably harvested materials, high recyclability, durability, longevity, and local production. Such products promote resource conservation and efficiency. Using recycled-content products also helps develop markets for recycled materials that are being diverted from California’s landfills, as mandated by the Integrated Waste Management Act.
Use dimensional planning and other material efficiency strategies. These strategies reduce the amount of building materials needed and cut construction costs. For example, design rooms on 4-foot multiples to conform to standard-sized wallboard and plywood sheets.
Reuse and recycle construction and demolition materials. For example, using inert demolition materials as a base course for a parking lot keeps materials out of landfills and costs less.
Require plans for managing materials through deconstruction, demolition, and construction.
Design with adequate space to facilitate recycling collection and to incorporate a solid waste management program that prevents waste generation.

Water Efficiency

Design for dual plumbing to use recycled water for toilet flushing or a gray water system that recovers rainwater or other nonpotable water for site irrigation.
Minimize wastewater by using ultra low-flush toilets, low-flow shower heads, and other water conserving fixtures.
Use recirculating systems for centralized hot water distribution.
Install point-of-use hot water heating systems for more distant locations.
Use a water budget approach that schedules irrigation using the California Irrigation Management Information System data for landscaping.
Meter the landscape separately from buildings. Use micro-irrigation (which excludes sprinklers and high-pressure sprayers) to supply water in nonturf areas.
Use state-of-the-art irrigation controllers and self-closing nozzles on hoses.

A green building may cost more up front, but saves through lower operating costs over the life of the building. The green building approach applies a project life cycle cost analysis for determining the appropriate up-front expenditure. This analytical method calculates costs over the useful life of the asset.

These and other cost savings can only be fully realized when they are incorporated at the project’s conceptual design phase with the assistance of an integrated team of professionals. The integrated systems approach ensures that the building is designed as one system rather than a collection of stand-alone systems.

Some benefits, such as improving occupant health, comfort, productivity, reducing pollution and landfill waste are not easily quantified. Consequently, they are not adequately considered in cost analysis. For this reason, consider setting aside a small portion of the building budget to cover differential costs associated with less tangible green building benefits or to cover the cost of researching and analyzing green building options.

Even with a tight budget, many green building measures can be incorporated with minimal or zero increased up-front costs and they can yield enormous savings

A green building, also known as a sustainable building, is a structure that is designed, built, renovated, operated, or reused in an ecological and resource-efficient manner. Green buildings are designed to meet certain objectives such as protecting occupant health; improving employee productivity; using energy, water, and other resources more efficiently; and reducing the overall impact to the environment.

Consolidated Consultants & Engineers Private Limited (“CCEPL”), a leading electrical, mechanical,plumbing and public health engineering group based in Pune, Maharashtra, announced that it has secured prestigious projects for design and project management works in large, multinational companies such as ALFA LEVEL, CUMMINS as well as in large residential sectors of DSK in PUNE, INDIA. CCEPL is also in the midst of negotiating several new MEP projects for SEZ, in and around MAHARASHTRA, INDIA.

In addition to conventional methodology of designs, CCEPL’s design team is quickly adopting state of art software and are updating themselves with the latest standards domestically and internationally in HVAC, PLUMBING,FIREFIGHTING SERVICES, ELECTRICAL engineering services.

CCEPL founder and Managing Director is currently in in Verginia, USA, and in discussions with multiple architects and designers for outsourcing their projects to PUNE ,INDIA. Mr. Jain also is planning on atteding and representing his compant at this year’s 2011 International Green Energy Economy Conference to be held from July 28-29, 2011 at the Renaissance Arlington Capital View Hotel, located in Crystal City, Virginia.

“CCEPL continues to grow by leaps and bounds. We are already a leading MEP consultant firm in Pune and Mumbai but now are taking our growth internationally. Our projects in the United Kingdon have been verysuccessful. Now we are also expanding into the cleantech sector, said Mr. Jain.

ABOUT Consolidated Consultants:
Consolidated Consultants & Engineers Private Limited (“CCEPL”) is a leading electrical consultant in India. It has offices in Pune as well as in Los Angeles. Website: www.consolidatedconsultants.com

PRESS Contact:
Mahesh Badade
C-3, Phase V, Patang Plaza, Katraj,
Pune , Maharashtra, India.
Pin- 411 046.
Tel. : 91- 20-24378704
Email: contact@consolidatedconsultants.com

CCEPL has undertaken very large projects, under Arihant universal infrastructures LTD., Navi Mumbai, and Kiran Nair Associates,extra large township design projects, and works are in full swing

Large and high rise buildings in big townships measuring more than 1,000,000 square feet completed in the last 3 years by CCEPL Electrical Engineers. The electrical design services along with project management consultancy works are in progress for additional 500,000 square feet of residential and commercial areas.

Since 2010, large residential townships all over Pune, Wagoli, high rise buildings were designed for electrical and plumbing services. CCEPL has already completed the project management and consultancy services of more than 500,000 square feet area and additional 1,000,000 square feet development area works are in hand.

Design and Project Management of HVAC, Electrical, Plumbing services for Hi-Tech groups like IBM, ZS, Elentas Beck, multiple IT sectors in commerce zones and Magar Patta at Pune have been successfully completed for more than 500,000 square feet in the last 12 months and more projects are on their way.