The Indian economy is on the upward path and construction is one of the sectors where the brisk activity was going on
just before the economic recession. Besides public infrastructure there is plenty of action on the way where
new residential, commercial, industrial and institutional building complexes are under construction.
Traditionally builders have had to deal
with many vendors and agencies for the coordination of different facets and
technologies and the buildings and infrastructure then may have played just a
peripheral part but it is no longer so.
The traditional areas of focus have been material, quality, aesthetics, ergonomics and so on. The property developers are now vital to
productivity, performance and efficiency of any organization.
It is
not surprising that today buildings are not looked at as brick and mortar edifices but as vital feature
in improving the organizational productivity and to improve parameters such as
comfort, efficiency, productivity etc. The improvement of these factors through various innovations will
continuously lead to trends in the sector with corporate sector doing its best
to boost competitiveness, productivity and sustainable functioning. The recent
legislation for FDI in the construction sector will improve standards of
construction to a greater extent.
Today
majority of the office buildings are patterned to make a good work
environment through good atmosphere, facilities for recreation such as gyms,
sports etc. Nothing is too much for
companies to do for maximizing the output from people, their human
resources. Apart from giving comfortable
and conducive surroundings, buildings are being made according to ‘resource efficiency’ for main parameters such as power and water consumption not only
from a commercial point of view but also from the point of view of conserving
the resources and the environment. Half
of the energy used in a building is dedicated to create artificial indoor
climate for cooling, ventilation and
lighting. There is a continual focus on making ‘per person consumption of power’
as little as possible through technology and best practices. The focus is on choice of equipment, like
chillers, motors, drives etc, using atmospheric conditions wherever possible,
engaging energy and space efficient products, putting in sensor base ‘light’
management, engaging sophisticated Building Management Systems (BMS) to supervise key parameters like temperature
and light. It needs a reliable power
supply, proper lighting, comfort cooling, dust free area and security which
will contribute towards making a conductive environment for work.
Things like ambience, comfort and
experience are utilized to draw clients by using air conditioning, lighting,
music, design and layout and some high-tech features. There is an integration of security, safety
and fire protection to give detailed and incorporated building management
systems.
Another sector in which the part played by building systems is always growing is leisure, recreation and
entertainment. Shops have evolved into
malls, multiplexes have sprung up from theatres and sports complexes and
fitness centres are springing up in metros all over the land.
In many cases the changing part played by
buildings can be seen. For example, in
IT and Biotech Parks, R&D centres, call centres, etc these
developments have come up very
fast. Such service driven businesses in
which the productivity of the organization is closely connected with the
productivity of the people and their habitation are coming up.
The life span of a building begins from the
stage of design, goes on to construction, operation, upkeep, renovation and in the end either leads to reuse or pulling down. People rarely realize that ‘initial building costs’ only make up around
two per cent of the full life cycle expense of a property. The operations and maintenance make up
another six per cent of the cost of a building’s life cycle and the remaining
92 per cent is attributable to costs associated with people.
There are greater demands in housing and
residential complexes in design, aesthetic, comfort, lighting, energy
efficiency and security. Inventive engineering and design, more efficient products, added solutions for electrics,
heat and light, communications, etc for increasingly advanced management and control systems for buildings are required. The architecture also counts for
the performance and efficiency such as heat load reduction, glazing, and space
saving design and natural ventilation and lighting.
An integrated approach to provide a ‘single window’ offering platform for adoption and maintenance of electrical installations, fire protection,building automation and operation, maintenance and asset management serviceswould be of great help to consumers.
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