Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC)

The Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC), launched on 28 June 2007, is a document that specifies the energy performance requirements for all commercial buildings that are to be constructed in India. The code is mandatory for commercial buildings or building complexes that have a connected load of 500 kW or greater or a contract demand of 600 KVA or greater. The code is also applicable to all buildings with a conditioned floor area of 1,000 m2 (10,000 ft2) or greater.The ECBC has been developed by India’s Bureau of Energy Efficiency, and is mandated by the Energy Conservation Act, 2001, passed by the Indian Parliament in September 2001.

ECBC is a set minimum energy efficiency standards for design and construction. ECBC encourage energy efficient design or retrofit of buildings so that it does not constrain the building function, comfort, health, or the productivity of the occupants and also have appropriate regard for economic considerations (life cycle costs i.e. construction + energy costs are minimized).

BEE would take suitable steps to prescribe guidelines for energy conservation building codes. Central Government can prescribe energy conservation building codes, and direct owners/occupiers to comply with them. State Government can modify the code in response to local climate conditions. ECBC provides a platform for the Broad stakeholders such as Building Industry, manufactures, professionals, Government Agencies etc to participate. ECBC addresses local design conditions and construction practices. It also emphasis on maximizing building envelope benefits – to encourage better designs.

ECBC defines the norms of energy requirement per sq. metre of area and takes into consideration the climatic region of the country, where the building is located. Norms have been developed to cater to 5 different climatic zones in India such as composite, hot and dry, warm and humid, moderate and cold.

The ECBC provides design norms for:

• Building envelope, including thermal performance requirements for walls, roofs, and windows, except for unconditioned storage spaces or warehouses.


• Lighting system (Interior and exterior lighting), including day lighting, and lamps and luminaries performance requirements.


• Mechanical systems and equipment, including ventilating, and air Conditioning.


• HVAC system, including energy performance of chillers and air distribution systems.


• Electrical system and motors.


• Water heating and pumping systems, including requirements for solar hot-water systems.

The code provides three options for compliance:

1. Compliance with the performance requirements for each subsystem and system;


2. Compliance with the performance requirements of each system, but with tradeoffs between subsystems; and


3. Building-level performance compliance.

Simulation exercises indicate that ECBC-compliant buildings use 40 to 60% less energy than similar baseline buildings.

ECBC development Process

1. An extensive data collection was carried out for construction types and materials, glass types, insulation materials, lighting and HVAC equipment


2. Base case simulation models were developed


3. The stringency analysis was done through detailed energy and life cycle cost analysis.


4. A stringency level for each code component was established


5. Code was finalized after consideration of comments on a draft version.

ECBC Scope

1. Mandatory Scope Covers commercial buildings


2. Applies to New Construction only


3. Building components included
   
   
   
   • Lighting (Indoor and Outdoor)
   
   
   • Building Envelope (Walls, Roofs, Windows)
   
   
   • Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) System
   
   
   • Solar Water Heating and Pumping
   
   
   • Electrical Systems (Power Factor, Transformers)

ECBC Compliance Approaches

1. Component-based (prescriptive)

• Requires little energy expertise


• Provides minimum performance requirements


• No flexibility

2. System-based (trade-off)

• Allows some flexibility through the balance of some high efficiency components with other lower efficiency components

3. Whole building design analysis (performance)

• Allows flexibility in meeting or exceeding energy efficiency requirements (as compared to a baseline building)

Building Envelope Design

Impact of Energy Codes

1. Market Development for EE products

• Building Insulation


• Energy Efficient Windows (Glass and Frames)


• High-Efficiency HVAC Equipment

2. Improved Design Practices

• Lighting and Day-lighting


• Natural Ventilation/Free-Cooling Systems

3. Lower Energy Use and Reduced Electricity Bills

4. Reduced connected load and Improved Power Factor

Patterned glass

Patterned glass is a kind of decorative translucent glass with embossed patterns on one or both surfaces. Pattern Glass or Decorative Glass or Rolled Glass is generally used where privacy or obscurity is desired but light transmission is still important. With the special property of decoration, patterned glass can allow light to pass through, at the same time, it can also prevent clear view. Usually it transmits only slightly less light than clear glass.

Patterned glass is not-perfectly-smooth structure with different patterns impressed on it. The depth, size and shape of the patterns largely determine the magnitude and direction of reflection.

Basically patterned glass has a pattern impressed on one side of the glass which prevents someone from seeing though it, for privacy. Pattern glass can also be ordered in various tints as well. A common application of this sort is when used in privacy walls to separate one room from another.

Rolled Pattern glasses are available in a wide variety of patterns, to add the perfect complement to many interior designs. Heavy patterned glasses provide added strength and support, and are a fast-growing product category. According to customers' requirements, patterned glass can be cut, ground, drilled, tempered, laminated, etc.

Production

Patterned glass is made with a rolled glass process. All rolled patterned glass begins as a batch of materials, including silica sand, soda, and lime. These materials are melted together in a tank, and then the molten glass mixture is fed onto a machine slab. The glass flows under a refractory gate which controls glass volume and speed then moves between two counter-rotating, water-cooled rollers. One of these rollers is embossed, imprinting a distinct pattern onto the soft surface of the glass while the other roller is smooth.

The result is a piece of glass that is patterned and textured on one side, while smooth on the reverse. The distance between the two rollers determines the ultimate thickness of the glass. After it moves between the rollers, patterned glass is annealed or cooled slowly in order to remove any residual stresses. Rolled patterned glass can then be cut into standard sizes or cut into customized sizes for a specific customer application. The glass is then inventoried and ready for delivery.

Applications

Rolled glasses are used in commercial, residential, and specialty applications. End uses include shower doors and tub enclosures including frameless shower doors interior partitions, translucent door and window treatments, foyers and vestibules, patio furniture, shelving, decorative furniture, and lighting fixtures. Comprehensive range of soft natural colours compliments and harmonizes with modern building materials to provide an exciting and different look to new and existing buildings. Pattern glasses are available in large amount of patterns. Patterned glass is most often found in bathroom windows.

Patterned glass is applied to all kinds of public and private places, such as office, meeting room, hotel, hospital, bath room, washroom, etc. It is also widely used as glass table, glass shaft and lampshade and so on. Mainly used in interior partitions, interior design, decorations, street furniture etc.

Dichroic glass

‘Dichroic glass’ is really a misnomer. The dichroic part is actually a very thin film of metal oxides which are too thin to stand alone and have therefore been layered onto a sheet of glass which acts as a substrate to lend the thin film strength. Dichroic glass is any glass that is coated with metallic oxides such as silicon, titanium and magnesium in a vacuum furnace using a technology called thin-film physics. Dichroic means 'two colors' and the glass is called this because it reflects one color but transmits another.

Dichroic glass is a high-tech spin-off of the space industry. "Dichroic" is defined as the property of having more than one colour, especially when viewed from different angles or from transmitted to reflected light. Hence dichroic glass is also referred to as "chameleon glass". For example, a particular formulation will appear blue, but shift the dichroic glass slightly and the color will transition to green.

Dichroic coated glass is produced by a process called "thin film physics" and is generally referred to as a colour separator. It's normally used as an interference filter in scientific measuring or correcting applications. It is transparent, has adequate rigidity, is stable, withstands relatively high temperatures, and is not affected by moisture, solvents or most acids.

Manufacturing Process

Dichroic Glass is made by applying a surface coating of one or more layers of transparent materials designed to create reflections of a specific wavelength in order to modify an optical effect. The coating itself is completely transparent. Dichroic glass can provide very crisp and vibrant colors.

The most commonly used coating materials are titanium oxides, zirconium oxides, silicon oxides and aluminum oxides. They are applied using a method called Vapour Deposition. The deposition occurs in a high vacuum chamber where the glass is suspended in the top of the chamber and rotated. The coating materials are placed in crucibles at the bottom of the chamber and bombarded with an electron beam that is focused and swept over the materials with electromagnetic fields. The heat generated by the bombardment vaporizes the materials, and the vapour condenses on the glass suspended above.

Dichroic coatings create some of the purest and most brilliant colours ever seen in glass. They are fragile and must be protected from abrasion unless they are reheated too close to the softening point. Once heated in this way, the coating becomes very durable. The resulting colour of the glass depends on the sequence of the many layers of coatings. Incredibly, the total thickness of the multi coatings is only between 3 to 5 millionths of an inch. It is a highly technical computerized manufacturing process.

The resulting Dichroic Glass is totally unlike normal coloured glass where light enters and part of the colour spectrum is absorbed, leaving the part not absorbed to be reflected. With Dichoric Glass all light entering is either transmitted or reflected (“dichromatic" means "two-colored"). These two sources have completely different colours, and importantly, the colours alter as the angle of view is changed. This results in fascinating and beautifully vibrant colours.

With the play of light together with its vibrant colour, Dichroic Glass is a prime tool used to add interest to any piece of work or project. With over 45 colours of dichroic doatings available that can be placed on “any” substrate (i.e glass), artists have unlimited freedom of expression.

Architectural Applications

There is an ever growing demand for the use of dichroic glass in architecture. Its resilience to weather and never-fading colors are prime material to enhance office buildings, custom homes, walkways, fountains, skylights, walls, lighting fixtures and more. Dichroic glass is also used in windows and curtain walls. Dichroic glass windows on the external wall maximize the entry of natural daylight.

In Other Industries

Dichroic Glass was originally created for the aerospace industry for satellite mirrors, but it now has many technical uses including lighting, fibre optics, infrared lasers, motion picture equipment, and more.

Russia Nightclub Fire: Fire Safety Lapse Claims over a Hundred Lives

The News

Russia is still coming to terms with its most deadly fire since Soviet times after 109 people died and more than 130 were injured in a blaze at a packed provincial nightclub on December 4, 2009. The fire started when a performance artist threw pyrotechniques too high and burnt the ceiling which quickly ignited the walls. The Lame Horse club, where the disaster occurred, was celebrating its eighth anniversary on the day.

One of the fireworks, tossed into the air and intended to be caught, hit the plastic covering of the ceiling, igniting the explosive. The decorative woven twigs affixed to the walls and ceiling also caught fire, filling the building with smoke. Panic gave way to a stampede when many patrons found themselves cut off from one public exit, management having sealed off other doors and the public unaware of emergency exits behind the stage.

Fire Safety: Why & How

Clearly, the Lame Horse Club owners had been callous about this aspect of safety, given that Russia’s Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu stated that the owners had been fined twice in the past for breaking fire safety regulations.

However, “Fire Safety” is not just a fancy term, and the implementation process not as complicated as is made out to be; there are some key elements of the process which can be easily adhered to.

• Building a facility in accordance with the version of the local building code

• Maintaining a facility and conducting oneself in accordance with the provisions of the fire code. This is based on the occupants and operators of the building being aware of the applicable regulations and advice.

Examples of these include:

• Not exceeding the maximum occupancy within any part of the building.

• Maintaining proper fire exits and proper exit signage (e.g., exit signs pointing to them that can function in a power failure)

• Placing and maintaining fire extinguishers in easily accessible places.

• Properly storing/using, hazardous materials that may be needed inside the building for storage or operational requirements (such as solvents in spray booths).

• Prohibiting flammable materials in certain areas of the facility.

• Periodically inspecting buildings for violations, issuing orders to comply and, potentially, prosecuting or closing buildings that are not in compliance, until the deficiencies are corrected or condemning it in extreme cases.

• Maintaining fire alarm systems for detection and warning of fire.

• Obtaining and maintaining a complete inventory of firestops.

• Ensuring that spray fireproofing remains undamaged.

• Maintaining a high level of training and awareness of occupants and users of the building to avoid obvious mistakes, such as the propping open of fire doors.

• Conducting fire drills at regular intervals throughout the year.

Practical Application



An example of how following these rules could have proved a life-saver in the Lame Horse lies in the fact that most victims died from smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning. There are fireproofing devices available that cut off not just the fire itself but even the radiant heat that emanates from it, as also the smoke and gases that are just as deadly. And in a place like a nightclub where the aesthetics imparted by tasteful and expensive interior décor is just as important as safety, fire resistant glass which offers this kind of protection is now abundantly available. Fire doors that are thoroughly tested for fire resistance and also adorn building interiors with their seemingly delicate appearance are one of the best choices for this purpose.

Also, it is important that a fire exit door opens towards the outside (persons trapped inside must be able to open the door by pushing and not pulling it). In the past, there have been cases where victims have died not because of the fire itself but thanks to a stampede caused by large numbers of people rushing towards the fire exit door at the same time, making it impossible for the door to be pulled open.

NOT an option

Russia records up to 18,000 fire deaths a year, several times the per-capita rate in the United States and other western countries; worldwide, nightclub fires have killed thousands of people. Another similar accident anywhere in the world will only establish deliberate carelessness by responsible authorities, because as is abundantly clear, fire safety is neither complicated nor expensive; not as compared to a human life anyway.