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Green buildings constitute one of the corner stones of green strategies that could help save considerable amount of money and resources for the telecom industry, while contributing towards a greener world. While Voice&Data has launched an intensive green campaign to highlight every single green possibility in the telecom industry, we limit the scope of that green war to only those aspects that help telecom companies gain economic benefits.

The telecom industry in India has been registering exponential growth over the years. It is likely to continue the growth trend for the near future as well, but power woes in the country are posing some hiccups and could become a major problem for the industry if power generation is not up to the mark. Green strategies could be a savior in this scenario as they tap natural and renewable resources and help in huge cost cuttings over a period of time.

Enterprises have started realizing this and some of the companies have become role models for others by adopting strategies like green buildings. What makes a building green is the unique design and construction practices. The building should efficiently tap natural resources to illuminate and cool the office, while abundantly oxygenating it with conducive for free flow of fresh air in a natural way, thus saving electricity.

Green Champions
Champions are found not only in providing innovative services, but also in taking pioneering steps that inspire fellow industry players.

On whether N Narayanan, founder and CMD of MRO-TEK, made a conscious policy to have a green building and contribute toward greener environment, he candidly admits with passion apparent in his tone, “We never had a conscious approach toward the green building. It was a natural decision taken at that point of time to construct the building in a way that will facilitate free flow of natural wind and illuminate the entire office with sunlight. We did it for ourselves, for our comfort and happiness, and now it is being called as green initiative. We are happy about it”.

Srinivasa Ravi, senior vice president, product development and strategy, Tanla Solutions says, “We made it a conscious policy to save power and have bright natural light in the office premises. We avoid wastage of precious things like power.”

Green Practices
The 60,000 sq ft building of MRO-TEK is unique. More than 50% of the building is covered with translucent glass. The overall investment by MRO-TEK on the green building and other infrastructure of its headquarters is about Rs 18 crore.

Almost the entire facility with the main office complex, an R&D center with software and hardware development facility, a network studio and 150-seat auditorium, does not require electricity for illumination during the day time or at any season throughout the year. Ninety percent of the area is lit up by natural light through transparent roofing and 95% of the time power is not used till 6-7 pm.

Also, the cross ventilation mechanism cools the office building obviating the need for air conditioners, thus saving power. A scientifically fixed mesh on top of sidewalls below the ceiling takes away the heat generated within the premises. Narayanan says, “We wanted to use natural air and reduce energy consumption, so the first thing we decided before the construction was to reduce the usage of air conditioners. The entire campus has only two air conditioners, one in R&D lab and another in the conference room.” A lobby roof called Bubble Bridge is completely designed with mesh for cooling effect through scientific ventilation. Translucent and transparent sheets are used in the lobby to maintain light-heat balance.

He says, “We consume energy efficiently and very consciously. We don't use ACs as we have deliberately introduced cross ventilation techniques for the building. Only the conference rooms, labs, network studio and server room are equipped with air conditioners.” Also, more than 100 trees on the campus help keep the atmosphere and office cool.

The office also has evolved a green-friendly work culture and staff comes early to the office work instead of working late in the night. “This work culture saves power and this is one of our means of cost cutting. We make use of green energy in all possible ways,” Narayanan points out enthusiastically.

Yet another practice that utilizes the natural resources. The company uses solar power to heat water, which is used for showers in gym, washing and mopping.

Green Arithmetic
So where does all the green arithmetic lead to as far as saving resources and utilizing them optimally to save costs for the company is concerned? According to Narayanan, “We save almost Rs 70, 000 per month. We are currently spending about Rs 1.5 lakh every month on electricity. Without our green initiatives, we would have spent around Rs 2.3 lakh. Roughly it can be said 35% power is saved. This may look minute but over a period of time this will be more than a considerable figure which can be invested into more productive segments reaping more benefits.”

It is true that green building architecture costs are higher than the normal buildings. But it is negligible when we compare it to the cost savings it offers over a period of time.

Green Extended
Apart from this, MRO-TEK's products are manufactured to consume lesser power. The company is also committed to make its factory green. The company is in the process of getting ISO 14001-EMS (Environmental Management System) certification, which is given to organizations to minimize their Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS). MRO-TEK is trying to make their products RoHS compliant by reducing the amount of lead content in the products.

Tanla Solutions has another aspect to add to its green practice-automation. The motion sensors in every chamber sense the movement of people and automatically regulate the lights in that particular chamber. “It helps us to utilize the resources more efficiently and optimally, be it electricity or sunlight,” says Srinivasa Ravi.

These green building techniques are by no means a comprehensive one. There may be many other green techniques to help telecom companies gain economic advantage. For example, by installing radiant barrier just underneath the roof, heat can be reflected away from the roof, naturally making the building cool. The radiant material is a sheet of aluminum foil that prevents or reduces by 95% heat absorption through the roof. These techniques are particularly helpful if air conditioning ducts runs through attic, because the lower attic temperature keeps the ducts cooler. It is possible to save more from the benefits of keeping the ceiling cool.

MRO-TEK also conserves water through rainwater harvesting from the entire roof. It is amazing that five minutes of moderate to heavy rainfall could fill three tanks with the capacity of 60,000, 60,000 and 40,000 liters used for the office consumption which otherwise would require pumping water using electricity.

Kannan K
kannan@cybermedia.co.in