We started the class with a brief introduction and discussing the reason for your selecting Green Architecture.
We agreed that we will have about 10 classes of about 90 minutes duration to cover the syllabus; 2 lectures will be for introducing various elements of environmental management; 6 lectures for ISO-14001, Environmental management system and two for construction industry specific environmental issues.
We started with the definition of Management: Use of scarce resources to achieve the objectives (goals); environmental management is about the management of the physical environment. The physical environment consists of air, water, soil, flora and fauna that surround us (the biosphere).
We discussed the link between the physical environment and business (economic activity); there are three major functions of the physical environment, viz., (a) providing resources, (b)acting as the sink for the waste and (c) providing amenity value.
Development is the use of natural resources available in the biosphere for the benefit of the community through products and services. While a part of the resources are used by the business for useful products and services, a part of the resource becomes waste. Environment acts as a sink for the waste. If waste is added to the environment at a rate beyond the carrying capacity of the eco-system, the system will collapse. If the waste is disposed off without consideration for the environment, the environment may lose its amenity value (e.g. dirty beaches, strewn with plastics bags and cups). At this point we also discussed about the importance of environmental awareness; e.g. plastics bags and ban on plastics, ban on water based on the information provided. The first step is, therefore, to be analytical with respect to scare stories.
The three characteristics of the physical environment are:(a) Common Property, (b) Multiple Use and (c) Uncovered cost
One of the major problems of the physical environment is that it belongs to everyone; everyone thinks that someone else will take care of it. It is like our keeping our flat clean by sweeping it everyday, but throwing the sweepings on to a common place, because the common place belongs to everyone. Air, water, earth, fauna and flora and the biosphere belong to the whole humanity; but in the absence of individual responsibility we allow these common properties to deteriorate, which in turn will affect all us. (Discussed Tragedy of Commons - please google and find out more about this term)
Natural resources are used for many purposes. For example, water is used for drinking, cooking, cleaning, washing, gardening, irrigation, sports, transportation, cooling, as solvent, in an industry etc. If the resource is scarce (clean water is indeed a scarce resource) and there are multiple demands for this scarce resource, conflicts are bound to arise (e.g. we discussed Sinar Mas Paper mills)
Another important characteristics of natural resources is that when such resouces are used certain costs are not covered. In the conventional cost accounting we do not consider the environmental cost in calcuating the cost of an activity. For example if one is asked to calculate the cost of travel between your house and the college, one would consider the price of the motor cycle (interest & depreciation), cost of petrol, cost of maintenance, cost of insurance, etc. But not the cost of damage done to the environment due to the emissions from the exhaust, the cost of health care of people who are affected by such emissions, the cost of lost work days, the cost of physical diabilities brought in by autoemissions etc. These uncovered costs are now distributed on the society. This is potentially a conflict issue if the problem of emission goes beyond one's tolerance limits (we discussed briefly the CNG introduction in Delhi; ban on vehicles older than 15 years etc.)
We (the society) cannot allow these potential conflict situations developing into actual conflicts. Society uses three types of conflict resolution/prevention techniques, viz., (a) Command and Control, (b) Economic Instruments and (c) Voluntary initiatives.
Command & Control is the technique used by Governments to see that the society behaves within certain parameters, which are supposed to be safe, of environmental performance. For example it enacts acts and rules, like the Water (prevention & control of Pollution) Act or Air (prevention & control pollution) act to prevent and reduce water and air pollution respectively. (see http://envfor.nic.in for Indian environmental acts and rules). Statutory authorities implement these acts and rules using regulations, like the standards for emissions, discharges etc. In this way the Government tries to ensure that the common resources are used diligently by the society (we also discussed about PUC for your vehicle). Command & Control can be applied at the Municipal level (plastics bags ban), State Level (announcement of certain areas as air pollution area etc.), National level, inter-country level (We had a brief discussion on RoHS and REACH) and at the global level (Kyoto protocol, Montreal Protocol etc.)
The second technique used for conflict avoidance/resolution is the use of Economic instruments; this can be through the Government or through individual players. Government can give tax concession or impose tax depending on if an activity or product is environmentally sound or not. For example the Government (Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Cess Act)may give concession on water cess if hte industry establishes an effluent treatment facility to treat the polluted water before discharging it. It can give concession on customs duty for pollution control equipments. These concessions encourage environmentally sound behaviour of the society. Government can also encourage preferential purchase of green products (EU Green Purchasing Guidelines). One example of economic instrument that is very popular now is the "carbon credit"; this is similar to emission trading (we discussed how two factories located in a zone may be allowed to trade their emissions). By reducing the emission of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) through approved CDM projects one can earn what are called Carbon credits, which can then be sold to buyers from developed countries who have a mandate to reduce their GHG emissions. Here the Government acts as a facilitator. Individual companies can similarly influence the way society behaves; for example the "deposit-refund" system is used for getting back used products or packaging by charging a deposit when the product is bought and paying the customer an amount when the product or packaging is brought back to the dealer at the end of life of the product. (I explained how the Cocacola cans were picked up by old people in the USA to give them back to the corner shops to get a few cents).
Natural resources are used for many purposes. For example, water is used for drinking, cooking, cleaning, washing, gardening, irrigation, sports, transportation, cooling, as solvent, in an industry etc. If the resource is scarce (clean water is indeed a scarce resource) and there are multiple demands for this scarce resource, conflicts are bound to arise (e.g. we discussed Sinar Mas Paper mills)
Another important characteristics of natural resources is that when such resouces are used certain costs are not covered. In the conventional cost accounting we do not consider the environmental cost in calcuating the cost of an activity. For example if one is asked to calculate the cost of travel between your house and the college, one would consider the price of the motor cycle (interest & depreciation), cost of petrol, cost of maintenance, cost of insurance, etc. But not the cost of damage done to the environment due to the emissions from the exhaust, the cost of health care of people who are affected by such emissions, the cost of lost work days, the cost of physical diabilities brought in by autoemissions etc. These uncovered costs are now distributed on the society. This is potentially a conflict issue if the problem of emission goes beyond one's tolerance limits (we discussed briefly the CNG introduction in Delhi; ban on vehicles older than 15 years etc.)
We (the society) cannot allow these potential conflict situations developing into actual conflicts. Society uses three types of conflict resolution/prevention techniques, viz., (a) Command and Control, (b) Economic Instruments and (c) Voluntary initiatives.
Command & Control is the technique used by Governments to see that the society behaves within certain parameters, which are supposed to be safe, of environmental performance. For example it enacts acts and rules, like the Water (prevention & control of Pollution) Act or Air (prevention & control pollution) act to prevent and reduce water and air pollution respectively. (see http://envfor.nic.in for Indian environmental acts and rules). Statutory authorities implement these acts and rules using regulations, like the standards for emissions, discharges etc. In this way the Government tries to ensure that the common resources are used diligently by the society (we also discussed about PUC for your vehicle). Command & Control can be applied at the Municipal level (plastics bags ban), State Level (announcement of certain areas as air pollution area etc.), National level, inter-country level (We had a brief discussion on RoHS and REACH) and at the global level (Kyoto protocol, Montreal Protocol etc.)
The second technique used for conflict avoidance/resolution is the use of Economic instruments; this can be through the Government or through individual players. Government can give tax concession or impose tax depending on if an activity or product is environmentally sound or not. For example the Government (Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Cess Act)may give concession on water cess if hte industry establishes an effluent treatment facility to treat the polluted water before discharging it. It can give concession on customs duty for pollution control equipments. These concessions encourage environmentally sound behaviour of the society. Government can also encourage preferential purchase of green products (EU Green Purchasing Guidelines). One example of economic instrument that is very popular now is the "carbon credit"; this is similar to emission trading (we discussed how two factories located in a zone may be allowed to trade their emissions). By reducing the emission of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) through approved CDM projects one can earn what are called Carbon credits, which can then be sold to buyers from developed countries who have a mandate to reduce their GHG emissions. Here the Government acts as a facilitator. Individual companies can similarly influence the way society behaves; for example the "deposit-refund" system is used for getting back used products or packaging by charging a deposit when the product is bought and paying the customer an amount when the product or packaging is brought back to the dealer at the end of life of the product. (I explained how the Cocacola cans were picked up by old people in the USA to give them back to the corner shops to get a few cents).
On voluntary initiatives, we touched upon ISO-14001 (we will study this further later); voluntary initiatives also include industry codes like the "Responsible Care" of the Chemical Industry. This can also be company specific procedures that will save the company from environmental disasters/litigation
thank you so much sir for a good revision of the class...no doubts..
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