Retrofitting Mumbai HPCL Office

HPCL – IMM Office at Petroleum House in Mumbai was awarded Platinum Rating by Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) under their Green Interior Rating Program which is the highest possible award in this category with guidance from Godrej & Boyce who were Green Building Consultants for this initiative.

Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), part of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) formed in the year 2001, administers and certifies Green Building in India. IGBC is working towards a vision to make India one of the global leaders in the sustainable built environment by 2025.

Green Vision

People spend 90% of the time indoors. Therefore, indoor aesthetics, air quality and comfort are of paramount importance to occupants. Thus, when the IMM office was undergoing renovation, HPCL wanted to redesign their interiors considering these key elements. With this vision, HPCL attempted Green Certification under IGBC Green Interior rating program. This rating system was instrumental in providing guidelines and measurable parameters to implement green & sustainable measures in their office.

Green Features & Implementations

HPCL went about this process by evaluating all the parameters of Green Interior Rating system and then implementing those which aligns with their key objective of enhancing occupant comfort and well-being with optimized energy & water consumption.

Green features of the office space:

• Architectural Design:

Petroleum House built in the year 1954 stands apart from the other traditional building located in the area. The building was an early experiment in green design, using louvers to reduce heat, a technique that was more famously deployed to modulate light by Le Corbusier in Chandigarh. The vertical & horizontal louvers wrap the building, reducing the heat load providing shades throughout the day. Because of extensive shading, glass area could be balanced to ensure proper penetration of daylight and views for the occupants. This further enabled designer to maximize the space utilization by having an extensive open office concept. This futuristic design was achieved more than 60 years ago which broke new ground architecturally while displaying the fervor sought to be realized by Nehru in his vision of a modern India.

• Circulation Spaces:

IMM redesigned their space with open office concept, which maximized the circulation spaces to extent of more than 50% of carpet area.

• Public Transportation access:

Close proximity to Bus & Rail services enables majority of the building occupant to use public mode of transportation, thereby, reducing impacts associated with individual vehicle usage.

• Water Efficient Fixtures:

Efficient plumbing fixture installed enables project to save more than 30% water use with respect to conventional building

• Energy Efficient Lights:

Office space use LED Lights which is 30-40% more efficient than conventional lighting. Additionally use of LED lights eliminates the problems associated with mercury disposal additionally has a 40% more burning hours compared to conventional lamps.

• Energy Metering:

Energy meters and sub-meters are installed to continuously monitor the building consumption & performance.

• Eco-certified & Ergonomically Designed Furniture:

Office space has been renovated with environment friendly & green range of Godrej make furniture which has achieved Green Guard certification. This furniture also meets highest standards of ergonomics, thereby, enhancing human health, comfort and well-being.

• Thermal Comfort & Fresh Air:

Office space is conditioned maintaining comfortable range of temperature throughout the year. Additionally, fresh air system has been designed, which helps to improve Indoor Air Quality by meeting ASHRAE 62.1.2007 standards of ventilation rates.

Sustainable Site Strategies

• Basic amenities and bus stop are within the 0.5 miles from the site entrance.
  • Strategically located car charging sockets to encourage tenant to switch to electric vehicles.
  • Preserving natural topography more than 50% by limiting the development footprint
  • Grass pavers on surface car parking and high SRI paint on terrace to reduce heat island effect.
  • Rain water harvesting pit to recharge aquifier.
  • Reducing external light pollution using efficient lighting and no facade lighting.

Potable Water Use Reduction Strategies :

• Large part of landscape has been planted native and drought species for landscaping with efficient irrigation system.
  • On-site sewage treatment plant to treat sewage up to tertiary standard and reuse treated water for flushing, landscaping and cooling tower make up.
  • Reducing the potable water requirement for flushing by 100%
  • Reducing the cooling tower make up potable water requirement by 50%
  • Low flow fixtures reducing the generation of sewage by 45%.

Waste Management Strategies

• Common segregation area for whole facility
  • Three bin system in all common areas
  • Agreement with third party agency to collect waste from facility
  • Guidelines for tenant facility team to segregate the waste at source
  Efficient Envelope Strategies
  • Use of AAC block for external walls and 50 MM XPS under deck insulation on roof
  • Use of double glazing units with low SHGC value
  • Facade longer axis at east west direction to reduce thermal heat gain

Green Chemicals

• Project uses Green Seal Certified range of Housekeeping chemicals which reduces impact on both environment & human.

Indoor Plants

• To further enhance the Indoor Air Quality and enhance oxygen in the space, project has planted some Indoor Plants. This further makes space visually appealing adding greenness to the space.

Daylight & Views

• Open office concept, appropriately sized glass & shaded areas results in good amount of daylight in the office. Additionally, occupants have ample of access to external views, which further improves connectivity with external environment.

Waste Management

• HPCL has provided color coded bins to facilitate waste segregation at source. Similarly, they have also banned use of plastic in the office space, thereby, reducing the waste generation itself.

All these features enabled project to achieve 55 out of total 75 points, making it a Platinum rated office. IGBC audited the space before issuing the final certification. This was a remarkable achievement in the field of existing office space and has set an example for other HPCL offices to follow. The efforts taken by HPCL redefine how the sustainability is looked at particularly in existing interior spaces undergoing retrofits or renovations. HPCL through this initiative has also demonstrated that there is no need to look at Green Certification exclusively; it can be a part of standard practice which helps to not only save energy & water but also would make people happy and comfortable.

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