WHY BUILD?

United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) declared the Building and Construction sector as a key sector for sustainable development. This sector represents over 111 million people directly employed worldwide and typically provides 5 to 10% of employment at the national level and normally generates 5 to 15% of the GDP.

The built environment has a profound impact on our natural environment, economy, health, and productivity. The construction industry is one of the largest energy consuming sectors, with the built environment contributing to 20% of water use, 25-40% of energy use, 30-40% of solid waste generation, and 30-40% of global greenhouse gas emission in each country.

Ministry of Power estimate indicates that about 20 to 25 percent of the total electricity consumed in government buildings in India is wasted because of inefficient design parameters of buildings, which results in an annual energy related financial loss of about 150 crore rupees.

The building and construction sector is increasingly under pressure from authorities and the public to address environmental and social issues. It is high time that the definition of architecture and the role of architects underwent a significant change where the keyword should be ‘responsibility’. And as trained architects, we need to realize the importance to un-build and unlearn.

The role of architect should no longer be primarily ‘builder’, it has to be ‘pioneer’ or ‘guide’, who would lead the key players of construction sector into creating a sustainable built environment. Architect should be an ‘activist’ who would be the first to react when the planet shows signs of decay and the icebergs start melting. We are to a great extend responsible for the ‘inconvenient truth’, better that we own it and start un-building the follies that were done and are currently happening.

As architects, most of us ask ourselves the fundamental questions ‘why do we build?’ and ‘how to build?’ from time to time. But now we should start asking ourselves and each other a more fundamental question of great relevance to changing times, “Why Build?” Maybe the answer will be the beacon towards a sustainable world.