Planning Approach with “Better Than Before” Concept: A Case Study of Library Building at SVNIT, Surat, Gujarat, India

Abstract

Across the different parts of the world, the concept of green building is catching the attention of the architects, urban and town planners, engineers and even ordinary people. According to the experts, high-performance green buildings are the ones that benefit the environment as well as human beings by minimum waste generation at all the stages of its life cycle while being cost-effective, sustainable and providing comfort to the humans. This paper explains the planning of the new library building at Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology (SVNIT), Surat. SVNIT, Surat, is located in Surat city that has the tropical savanna climate, moderated actively by the Sea to the Gulf of Cambay. This is the first building of the institute that was planned and constructed by following the Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) guidelines to obtain a minimum of three stars. Various parameters such as planning parameters, building material parameters and building envelope were all addressed during its planning process. All the building planning principles, viz. aspect, prospect, grouping, roominess, ventilation, lighting, sanitation, etc., were considered while planning the building. This paper delineates the step-by-step process of planning a library of the national institute in Indian conditions to obtain high performance in the future. Also, the new library is compared with the old library that was built in 1961. The new library building is an example of a green and sustainable building. Its usage in designing library and learning spaces leads to limited yet significant literature on the design of green libraries is based on GRIHA guidelines.