A paradigm of self sufficiency

Deependra Prashad & Saswati Chetia
DPAP Studio

A new building housing the Ministry of Enviorment & Forests including the minister's office and various administrative sections of the ministry have been proposed in Aliganj, on Jorbagh Road in south Delhi. The Structure has been located quite near to landmark structures like Mausam Bhawan and India Habitat Centre which define the institutional architecture of the area. The chosen piece of land was originally single storey decrepit govt. housing which has been reutilized by a change of landuse to the govt. office function. Despite the change in landuse, the mandate of the ministry’s building remained as providing minimum change and disturbance to the surrouding ecosystem, including that of the greenery and to the quite residential character of the surroundings, while still creating an optimum utilization of the tight urban site of almost a hectare. 

This building reflects the growing role of the ministry in regulating and channelizing India’s development into a sustainable paradigm. This mandate was carried forward by the project managers, i.e. the CPWD & the green building consultants, i.e DPAP at every level to design a building which is not just energy efficient but goes far beyond to reach the level of being energy positive, i.e. to be able to create more energy onsite than it consumes over a functional year. The building is targeted as the first large scale building in the country to achieve the Net Zero & Energy positive tag and also the first govt. building to do so.