The building, spread over 1.75 hectares, has been funded by Shourie, a Rajya Sabha member, through his MPLADS (Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme) and happens to be the second green building in the campus after the department of Biological Sciences and Bio-engineering, set up three years ago, also funded by Shourie.

“The Centre has been set up to encourage research to devise solutions to environmental pollution by pooling in resources of expertise in different disciplines. It is also one of the greenest buildings in the country,” said Shourie.

Sanjay Dhande, Director, IIT Kanpur, said the building is in line with Shourie’s idea of being a resource of education in itself.

“While we will have about 16 laboratories where our reserach faculty will be working on technologies to address water and air pollution, we have also ensured that the entire structure is eco-friendly and energy efficient. We are looking forward to getting the five-star credit from TERI as well,” said Dhande.

According to Delhi-based architect Tanuja Kanvinde, who has designed the building, the basic design of the structure is such that it can save about 41 per cent of its energy requirement as per TERI standards. “We have managed this by using solar panels for outdoor lighting, intelligent fixtures like sensors to conserve electricity and by cutting down on air conditioning by digging an underground tunnel to control the temperature inside the building,” she said.

The system, which was implemented in the Bio-Science building also, has a tunnel dug below the surface and all the air coming inside the building passes through this tunnel and is kept at a constant temperature. The temperatures in the corridors and other common areas is maintained through this system, doing away with the need for airconditioning and therefore helps save energy,” said Kanvinde.

The architects have also ensured that the building remains “nestled” in the natural environment, dotted with full-grown trees and greenery. “We have incorporated natural landscapes like the low-lying areas of the plot in the site. We haven’t cut too many trees and have replaced every tree cut by planting four trees of species that require minimum maintenance,” she added.

A water treatment plant has been set up where water used in the laboratories of various departments will be treated and used for horticulture. While the building will be fully operational only after April, Dr Dhande said the centre will become operational after the inauguration. “Since the idea is to develop new technologies through research, we will first be working on studying the relationship between health and environmnt and also developing sensors to track water and air pollution,” said Dhande.

Eco-friendly

• Has photovoltaic cells and solar panels that generate 30 per cent of the energy requirement

• Reflectors that cause ‘visual’ pollution are not used

• To maintain temperature, windows have been glazed, roofs and windows insulated

• Recycled tiles, manufactured indigenously, are used.

• The building’s waterbody adopts rainwater harvesting norms