Towards sustainable architecture – a case with Greentainer

Abstract

Sustainable and green architecture must consider not only recycled materials but also reuse of materials. This paper focuses on a building whose envelope is made of a shipping container, called Greentainer, which is a reused material. This building is located in the hot-humid tropical climate of Chennai, India. The most effective passive means of achieving thermal comfort in hot-humid climate is through comfort ventilation, which is the concept used in the Greentainer. A comparison of the environmental repercussions in terms of embodied energy of the Greentainer and a notional building of same size made of conventional building material in the study area of Chennai, India is performed. A comparison of the indoor thermal performance of the Greentainer and a real-life building, similar to architectural features of the Greentainer, is also carried out. Both the buildings are naturally ventilated and single storied. The embodied energy of both the buildings is evaluated. The indoor air temperature of the buildings is recorded for 1 full day during the hottest part of the year to evaluate the indoor thermal performance of the buildings. It is found that the building made of primarily reused material is not inferior to a conventional building in terms of its embodied energy as well as indoor thermal performance.