After seven years,UT to get its first green building today

The first move in this direction was made on the occasion of World Environment Day in 2005,when the then UT Administrator and Punjab Governor General (retd) S F Rodrigues laid the foundation stone of the building.

With a deadline of completion in 2007,the building could not be completed and exceeded its deadline for reasons best know to the Administration.

However,owing to the delay in completion,the cost of construction of the building has doubled since its conception,from Rs 6 crores in 2005 to about Rs 12 crore,now.

Officials of the Department of Forests said that the four-storey building will not have a single air-conditioned room,as the building will have naturally cool temperature.

Santosh Kumar,UT Conservator of Forests,said,“The building has earth air tunnel forced ventilation system wherein pipes have been laid 20-ft below the earth,where the temperatures is always around 21 degrees. The pipes have been connected to the ducts,which will use reverse pressure to maintain the temperature in a manner that the building will not require air conditioners,even in summers”.

The building will have green blocks instead of the regular paver blocks,made of special material which allows water to seep into the ground and also facilitate grass to grow on the floor.

The building will also have a rainwater harvesting system,besides a 150-kw solar power plant to provide light inside the rooms of the building.

The structure that is spread over 80,000 sq ft will house the office of the Chandigarh Pollution Control Board,besides the Department of Forests and Department of Science and Technology.

The building was conceptualised in 2005 as a dedication to environment-related studies and research. The significance of the structure lies in its concept that envisages a space comprehensive enough to address every environment-related issue.