The art of creating a 'net energy positive' office

The Atal Akshaya Urja Bhawan, the new MNRE headquarters, makes a louder, and more progressive, statement about sustainability

- APARNA PIRAMAL RAJE

A huge cantilevered roof, lined with solar panels and situated on top of a government building on Delhi’s Lodhi Road, is visually striking. This is Atal Akshaya Urja Bhawan, the new headquarters of the Union ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE). Even though the roof is prominent, it is the thinking behind the building that makes a louder, and more progressive, statement about sustainability. Designed to be a “net energy positive” building, or one that generates more energy than it consumes, the 4.10 lakh sq.ft Atal Akshaya Urja Bhawan illustrates three important principles of sustainable architecture.

The first principle is that constructing a green building is all about strategic intent. “Green buildings are not an afterthought. They are by design,” says Shaon Sikta Sengupta, the Delhi-based director of Edifice Consultants, one of India’s best known architecture firms and the practice engaged by the MNRE to design and construct the headquarters. The brief from the ministry was clear from the start, to build a net zero building. An international design competition was held in November 2015 and a jury composed of architecture professionals and government officials was convened to judge entries. Edifice’s bid to construct a net positive (not just net zero) building, as well as its past experience with sustainable architecture in other parts of the country, including office buildings for Monte Carlo in Ahmedabad, Amara Raja Batteries in Tamil Nadu and Infosys in Indore, led it to be awarded the project. The project has nine floors, including the ground level, and three basements.