The CII-Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre in Hyderabad, India is a LEED Platinum-rated office building and business center. Some key features include a circular building footprint to maximize usable space and natural ventilation, extensive use of recycled and sustainable materials, on-site renewable energy systems, and passive design elements like courtyards, green walls and roofs, and a wind tower system to reduce energy usage. The building was designed by Indian architect Karan Grover to respond to the local climate and culture through traditional elements like jali screens and central courtyards while demonstrating high performance green building practices.

1. Chirag | Jnanesh | Piyush | Prajwal | Rakshith | Sohan
CII-SOHRABJI GODREJ GREEN BUSINESS CENTRE
CASE STUDY

2. CII-SOHRABJI GODREJ GREEN BUSINESS CENTRE
Location Hyderabad, India
Site Area
Building details
Office building Seminar hall Green Technology
Centre displaying the latest and emerging green
building materials and technologies in India Large
numbers of visitors are escorted on green building
tour
Awarded the LEED platinum rating by U.S Green
building council
Building type Office building, Business center
SHAPE/FORM Circular With Voids In Between
1,858 m2
Built Up Area
18,210.9 m2
(4.5 acres)

3. Karan Grover and Associates, India
Karan Grover has been passionately advocating the need to look
at one’s culture and heritage for clues as to the direction for a
contemporary architecture and sustainable development relevant
to the Indian context today. He has enthused children in
conservation and been nominated a “social entrepreneur” as a
Fellow of the Ashoka Foundation, Washington. Winner of all the
Indian Awards for Excellence in Architecture and Interior Design;
he almost single handedly won India’s nominations for UNESCO’s
World Heritage Site status for Champaner after a 22 year old
campaign. In 2004, Grover became the first architect in the world
to win the U.S. GBC “Platinum” Award for the greenest building in
the world.
ARCHITECT

4. SITE CONTEXT
Exploring Site Context and Potential: Project is located in the Hi-Tech City of Hyderabad and has all the basic
amenities nearby. Public Transport is very easily available at the distance of 100m from the location. The
extensive landscape is home to 1000 varieties of trees, most of which are native and adaptive to local climatic
conditions. More than 70% of the existing landscape and contour was retained on the surface. Site Preservation
is very important to minimize the site damage and associated negative environmental impacts The water body is
preserved at site in the northern side of site. Site is flat on southwest side and plateau on the east side. Site is
densely covered with vegetation and various species of animals and birds.

5. Access and Approach
The site has access from the secondary road which subdues the
traffic load to and from the campus, The circular fonn carves a are
route frames by trees and shrubs, further gets divided towards
parking, Such an arrangement ensures security and privacy.
Main Entrance
•Bicycle riders are treated preferentially - convenient parking,
lockers, shower cleaning
•30 % of employee transportation: carpools, bicycles, and LPG
cars
•Use of battery operated vehicles encouraged - Charging
stations available
• The documented reduction of harmful emissions achieved is
62 %
•Encourage building occupants to minimize their reliance on
fossil fuel-based transportation.
Parking & Accessibility
The main gate opens to a long driveway with lush greenery on both
sides creating EMPHASIS to the entrance

7. Climate
Brief of Climate
● It remains fairly warm most of the year.
● Receive less rainfall in the monsoon.
● Temperatures come down in the months of December and January and the nights become quite cool in and around the Hyderabad city.
● During the summer months, the mercury goes as high as 42° C while in winters the minimum temperature may come down to as low as
12° C.
Humidity in the morning is very high exceeding 80 per cent from July to September. In the dry months of March, April and May, humidity is
generally low with an average of 25 to 30 per cent and decreases to 20 per cent at individual stations

8. Climate- Design considerations

9. Pancha Bhutas ancient belief states that life exists because of the presence and balance of the five classical elements
They are associated with the five senses.
They act as the gross medium for the experience of
sensations.
The Concept : What derives itself from nature returns to it.
This is applied in the practice of Architecture: a building gives
back to nature even as it takes from it thus reducing the
ecological footprint(void). An attempt to make a positive
change in design by
CONCEPT
Reducing the negative impact on the environment in
terms of:
•Use of materials
•Water Management
•Energy Efficiency
•Sustainability
•Natural Ventilation
•Reuse and Recycle
•Renewable Energy
•Effective Land Use
•Ecological footprint
•Carbon Footprint
•Socio Cultural Response etc

10. Design considerations
Principles followed
Waste Reduction
● Select materials using recycled
components .
● Design for re-use and recycling.
● Control and reduce waste and
packaging.
● Reduce resource consumption.
Health and Wellbeing
● Meet the basic physical, emotional and spiritual needs of the occupants
● Consider healthy lighting, color and sound, controlled temperature and humidity and
● good indoor air quality to enhance the living environment
● Reduce formaldehyde emissions and use pollution fighting indoor plants
● Apply an integrated wiring system for lighting, power, security, fire alarm and audio
facilities.
● Design a safe and user-friendly space.

11. Energy Efficiency
● Design-Orientation for maximum day light.
● Avoiding Green wall and Green roof.
● Use of neutral glass to reduce heat gain.
● Usage of energy efficient white goods.
● Use of Zero CFG refrigerators in refrigerators and
air-condition.
● Online monitoring system to monitor the energy
performance.
● Establishing baseline data for energy consumption.
Use of eco friendly electric car for
transport and traveling within the
premises
helping in preventing pollution.

12. □ Unrestricted circulation of Air
□ Limitless flexibility of design layout
□ The round shape can support the concrete roof which gives uncompromised
strength & security from any kind of disaster.
□ At least 10 times stronger than conventional square construction.
□ Take advantage of whatever view here is.
□ The roof design is self-supporting which allows unlimited floor plan design.
□ Orientation to the sun for optimum solar gain. Approx. 25% less exterior
surface area exposed weather and possible heat loss.
□ The Circular foot print creates approx, 25% more square footage than a
square building, using the same amount of materials
DESIGN APPROACH

13. The courtyards act as "light wells,"
illuminating adjacent work areas.
When this light is not sufficient,
sensors trigger the deployment of
efficient electric lights. Dimmers
automatically control the
illumination levels, turning the
lights off when they're
unnecessary. Also, occupancy
sensors prevent a light from being
switched on at an unoccupied
workstation.
Design Elements - Courtyards

14. Design Elements - Courtyards

15. Design Elements - Natural lighting

16. Design Elements - Roof Gardening

17. Design Elements - Reflective glass

18. Design Elements - Usage of light

19. Design Elements - Double glazed glass

20. Design Elements - Use of traditional jali
● Jaali walls are used which are a good source of ventilation
and daylight. Shading from trees are provided adjacent to
the walls which reduces the heat transmitted through the
walls because of direct sunlight. The jali walls are important
feature in Indian architecture, The walls are commonly
experimented feature in aesthetics with several
arrangement and patterns. The walls allow a controlled
flow of air and light into the interior space. The jali walls
increase the surface area and mass of the facade to cool
much of the breeze in the passage, •Allow controlled
passage of air and light into the interior space.
● Ensure constant flow of breeze into the interior -
● occupant comfort cools the interiors.
● Throw patterns or light and shadow on the floor enhancing
aesthetics.
● An alternative to costly window construction,
● Diffuse the glare of sunlight,

22. Vertical landscaping is an essential feature of the building. Some
have been used as facade element while some as partition. The
plants are layed on pouch of dark plastic containers stacked in the
series and rows, the plants come as filler element, the set is hanging
with ceiling or stuck on walls. Vertical landscaping is an influential
element to enhance the vibrance of green buildings, apart from the
aesthetics, this act as additional mass to the wall and reduce the
heat load in the building.
The columns in the Indian architecture are widely ornate feature in
the building, though the composition in the building is plain and
simple. The randomness of mosaic chips gives a pretty
ornamentation,
white the composition gives a salient uniformity. The chips on
the columns are of blue mosaic tiles giving contrast to the yellow
walls. The columns mark the edge and give a
proper direction for circulation.
Design Elements - vertical landscaping

23. Zoning done by HIERARCHY in terms of PRIVACY
PUBLIC- Reception, Library
SEMI PUBLIC – Administration,
Office for employees
Zoning
SEMI PRIVATE – Seminar hall
PRIVATE - Conference rooms,
Cabins for Senior Executives
COMMON AREAS – for
circulation and gathering

24. Circulation (Horizontal and Vertical)
● Means Vertical Circulation are Staircase and Lift
● Easy circulation in block organisation
● Grid like Arrangement of desk spaces
Circulation Scheme
encourages interaction
Arrows indicate Circulation within the building, surrounding the Central
Courtyard along colonnaded corridors

25. Master plan
• Site Area : 5 acres
Built Up Area : 20000 sq ft
• Building footprint: Only 9.2% of site
• Minimum disturbance to the existing
site features
• Large area for landscape to enhance
micro climate and for visual delight
BUILT VS UNBUILT AREA
● Located on the flattest zone available on site,
● Easy access from mam road
● Centrally located to site
● Scope to create buffer zone surrounding the
building for effective design according to the site
climate.
● Less prone to pollution.

26. Plan

27. Plan

28. The Plan is closed formation of concentric spaces with
courtyard in the middle, The plan is derived from
subtractive combination of several built spaces and green
pockets. the arrangement of spaces is radial: similarly the
structure is also radial. The structural formation is derived
from circular arrangement of columns and slanted
combination of radial beams,
The building has ban semi open circulation though public
and semi public spaces, the pattern of circulation is in two
förms- radial and circulates merging to complete the free
and open flow throughout the building, The Spaces are
vastly open to give maximum extenor green view.
AREAS SHOWING GREEN POCKETS

29. Materials used
Sustainable Materials
•A large amount of energy — and pollution — was also reduced through
choices in the production and transportation of building materials.
•An impressive 77 percent of the building materials use recycled content in
the form of fly ash, broken glass, broken tiles, recycled paper, recycled
aluminum, cinder from industrial furnaces, bagasse (an agricultural
waste from sugar cane), mineral fibers, cellulose fibers, and quarry dust.
•The building reuses a significant amount of material salvaged from other
construction sites like toilet doors, interlocking pavement blocks, stone
slabs, scrap steel, scrap glazed tiles, shuttering material and, interestingly,
the furniture in the cafeteria. A waste management plan ensured that 96
percent of construction waste was recycled.

30. ● Reuse of a significant amount of
material salvaged from other
construction sites like toilet doors,
interlocking pavement blocks, stone
slabs, scrap steel, scrap glazed tiles,
shuttering material and Mthe
furniture in the cafeteria.
● Stone grid pavers used on roads for easy
drainage of water
● Reuse of construction waste stone in
paving the gardens
● Use of bamboo as landscape
elements
● Clay tile paving in the gardens
● Furniture in the canteen with local Tandur stone
flooring

31. FLY ASH BRICK
•Manufacturing method saves energy, reduces mercury pollution.
•costs 20% less than traditional clay brick manufacturing.
•Low embodied energy, High recycled content, low CO2 emission.
•Lighter than clay bricks.
•High strength, practically no breakage during transport.
•Uniform size of bricks reduces mortar required for joints and plaster by 50%.
•Lower water penetration, considerably reducing seepage of water through bricks.
• Gypsum plaster (plaster of Paris) can be directly applied on these bricks without a backing coat
of lime plaster

32. Form and function
.
● Unrestricted circulation of Air
● Limitless flexibility of design layout
● The round shape can support the concrete roof which gives
uncompromised strength & security from any kind of
● At least 10 times strong then convectional square construction
● Take advantage of whatever view there is
● The roof design is Orientation to the sun for optimum solar gain.
Approx. 25% less surface area exposed weather and possible heat
loss.
● The Circular foot print creates approx, 25% more square footage than
a square building, using the same amount of materials
Why circular?
Formation of positive and negative
pressure zones when wind flows
rectangular and circular bodies.
The pressure coefficient cp can be
used with the wind velocity to
calculate positive and negative
pressure loads.

33. Green Building Tour
● Central courtyard.
● Roof garden - Protects heat penetration, cuts down
heat-island effect
● High performance glazing to bring in natural light while
minimizing heat ingress.
● Usage of light glazing and vision glazing.
● Jali (Perforated) wall for bringing in natural light as well as
ventilation .
● Energy saving system.

34. Character
● Minimal damage during construction and
occupancy, to the natural elements of water
flow, air quality, vegetation, and topography
● The built form responds to the rocky site.
● Small footprint, design retains site contours
and existing boulders.
● "Contour trenching" adopted to avoid
erosion and sedimentation.
● During construction, barricades were
installed to prevent contaminants from
spreading to surrounding areas.
● Care has been taken not to disturb the
activities of a temple nearby
Sensitivity to context

35. ● The spatial and formal elements
around a courtyard create introverted
blueprint.
● Courtyard space was not rigidly fixed
but could be adaptable depending on
the time of day, season
● Its mood changed with varying
degrees of light and shade, and with
them the ambience
● Centrally located, serves as visual
anchor.. It was the spatial, social, and
environment control center of the
home.
● By building them around a central
open space ensured close
relationships between separate units
● Brought in an additional usable
space within the living space.

36. ● The traditional central courtyard with
colonnaded corridors
● The spatial and formal elements around a
courtyard create introverted blueprint.
● Courtyard space was not rigidly fixed but could
be adaptable depending on the time of day,
season
● Its mood changed with varying degrees of light
and shade, and with them the ambience
● Centrally located, serves as visual anchor.. It
was the spatial, social, and environment control
center of the home.
● By building them around a central open space
ensured
● close relationships between separate units
● Brought in an additional usable space within the
living space.

37. ● MECHANICS OF A COURTYARD
● Courtyard functions as a convective
thermostat and gives protection from
extremes of weather. The total number of
courtyards in one residence could
sometimes be five to six.
● A PATTERN OF SOLIDS AND VOIDS
● As the courts progress in and out from the
exterior structure, they form a pattern of
negative and positive spaces

38. Services
Wind System
A combination of sensible cooling in the ground and
evaporative cooling with the flow of air induced by the
wind tower can be achieved by a configuration as
shown. The heat loss from air results in a decreased
air temperature, but no change in the water vapour
content of the air.

39. Daytime and night time operation of a Wind Tower
The hot ambient air enters the tower through the
openings in the tower and is cooled, when it
comes in contact with the cool tower and thus
becomes heavier and sinks down. When an inlet
is provided to the rooms with an outlet on the
other side, there is a draft of cool air. After a
whole of heat exchange, the wind towers
become warm in the evening.
During night the reverse happens; due to warm
surface of wind tower and drop in temperature
of ambient air due to buoyancy effect, warm air
rises upwards. As a result, cooler ambient air is
sucked into the room through the window. As a
bye-product of this process, wind tower loses
the heat that was collected during the day time
and it becomes ready for use in cold condition
up to the morning.

40. A Wind catcher
A Wind catcher, Wind scoop or Badgir is a traditional Persian architectural element to create natural ventilation in
buildings.
Energy savings are achieved by the GBCs two wind towers
● Air, cooled by up to 8 ^C, is supplied to the AHUs, substantially reducing the load on the air-conditioning
system.
● A heavily insulated roof further reduces the cooling load.

41. Wind tower design with openings on all four sides Wind tower design with evaporatively cooled system
Due to the unpredictable wind direction, opening on all four sides are provided with an
additional affect due to wind pressure. The rate of heat transfer mainly depends on surface
area with which, the air comes in contact. Here the surface area is increased by having
vertical conduits, which gives less resistance to air flow. Further, the effectiveness is
increased by having sprinklers to promote the evaporative cooling

42. Wind Deflectors
Interior partitions are provided in the building for various
purposes of privacy, which may not allow openings in the
partition. In this region, due to the warm and humid
climate ventilation becomes very essential, cross –
ventilation becomes the major solution. This can be
overcome by providing ridge ventilation or ventilating
ducts or shafts for deeper rooms.

43. The effect of positioning the apertures at various heights above the floor influences the efficiency of the natural
ventilation in a given space.
Inlet and outlet are high. Airflow
only near ceiling. No air current at
body level. Good for removing hot
air for warm season. Layers of still
air at low levels.
Inlet higher than outlet. Good
interaction of air layers. Current
at body level. Pocket of warm ,
still air over the outlet.

44. Rain Water Harvest :
• Some rainwater goes into the soil by the
use of permeable grid pavers.
•The remaining rainwater follows existing
flow patterns and is collected in a water pond
another traditional method of rainwater
harvesting, constructed at a lower end of the
site.
•In addition, the building achieves a 35 %
reduction of municipally supplied potable r, in
part through the use of low-flush toilets and
waterless urinals.
Water management
Waste Water Treatment. - Root Zone
Treatment

45. Artificially prepared wetlands comprising of clay or
plastic lined excavation and emergent vegetation
growing on gravel/sand mixtures.
All wastewater generated - recycled by "root zone
treatment" - simultaneously irrigates the vegetation.
•Low operating cost , less energy requirement and
ease of maintenance
•Attractive alternative for wastewater management
•Enhances the Landscape
• Design-Orientation for maximum
daylight.
• Avoiding Green wall and Green roof.
• Use of neutral glass to reduce heat gain.
• Usage of energy efficient white goods.
• Use of Zero CFG refrigerators in
refrigerators and air-condition.
• Online monitoring system to monitor the
energy performance.
• Establishing baseline data for energy
consumption.
Energy Efficiency
● Use of Solar photovoltaic cells on the rooftop grid
provides about 24 kilowatts, or 16 % of the
building's electricity needs.
● Placed appropriately on the roof facing South and
West to capture maximum heat gain.

46. GROUND FLOOR - RECEPTION - OFFICE AREA - INFORMATION CENTRE
Facilities

47. FIRST FLOOR - OFFICE AREA -
INFORMATION CENTRE
Naturally light throughout
the day

48. PERMANENT TECHNOLOGY CENTRE
Easy circulation in block
organization
● Sufficient Diffused Daylight for all areas
through recessed courtyards and North
light Glazing
● Naturally lit throughout the day

49. SEMINAR HALL
● Can be divided using partition walls to create smaller
meeting rooms — flexibility of spaces

50. ELEMENTS OF TRANSITION
Spaces located in the overlap between inside and outside create informal spaces for interaction

51. Analysis / Inference
Other Notable Green Features
● Fenestration maximized on the north
orientation
● Rain water harvesting
● Water-less urinals in men’s restroom
● Water-efficient fixtures: ultra low and
● low-flow flush fixtures
● Water-cooled scroll chiller
● HFC-based refrigerant in chillers
● Secondary chilled water pumps installed
with variable frequency drives
(VFDs)
● Energy-efficient lighting systems
through compact fluorescent light
bulbs (CFLs)
● Roof garden covering 60% of building
area
● Large vegetative open spaces
● Swales for stormwater collection
● Maximum day lighting
● Operable windows and lighting
controls for better daylighting and
views
● Electric vehicle for staff use
● Shaded car park

52. Awards received by CII –
Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre
● CII – Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre or The Green Business Centre is located in
Hyderabad, India. It won an internationally acclaimed award by the United States Green Building
Council as the most environmentally advanced building in the world.
● It is the Centre of Excellence of the Confederation of Indian Industry for Energy Efficiency, Green
Buildings , Renewable Energy, Water, Environment & Recycling and Climate Change activities in
India.
● The Green Institute entered into a strategic partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industries
to establish the Green Business Centre (GBC) at Hyderabad for promoting Green Activities in
India. The GBC has become the basis of an ongoing partnership with the Phillips Eco-Enterprise
Center (PEEC), a project of the Green Institute

53. ● Karan Grover and Associates
(kga.co.in)
● CII-Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre by Karan Grover and Associates First LEED Platinum Certified
Building in India - RTF | Rethinking The Future (re-thinkingthefuture.com)
● CII-Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre (CIIGBC) -
Greenroofs.com
● When architecture meets technology – CII Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre, Hyderabad
(archestudy.com)
● CIIGBC (greenbusinesscentre.com)
Reference

54. Thank you