The Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) office building in Chandigarh, India utilizes passive solar design principles to provide lighting, cooling, and heating with minimal energy usage. Constructed in 2004, the building's design incorporates elements like solar shells, a hyperbolic paraboloid roof, and photovoltaic panels to maximize natural light and thermal regulation. As a result, the building achieves the highest rating of energy efficiency and has the lowest energy performance index in India for a non-air-conditioned building.

1. PUNJAB ENERGY DEVELOPMENT
AGENCY
OFFICE BUILDING
CHANDIGARH
Prepared by :-
MD. SIDDIQ SALIM
III SEM - II YR
B-arch
PU ,jaipur

2.  Address : 33D, Sector 33, Chandigarh
 Climate : composite
 operational schedule :– 15 hours, 6 working days in a
week
 Total Build-up area: 7000 sq. m
 Function: Office Building
 Architect : Ar. Arvind Krishan

4. Designing sustainable buildings in a composite climate is a challenge. The techniques
that are effective during summers do not work in winters. But a building in Chandigarh
has achieved this. More than 10 years ago, the Punjab Energy Development Agency
(PEDA) decided to construct an office building that utilises the movement of the sun for
lighting, cooling and heating.
The Rs 5.5 crore building, a pilot, was ready in 2004. Six years later, the Bureau of Energy
Efficiency (BEE) awarded it a five-star rating, the highest grade of energy efficiency.
Monuments like the Red Fort in Delhi were designed using these techniques. The PEDA
office has an energy performance index (EPI) of 14 kWh/m2/year (the lowest in the
country) in the category of non-air-conditioned buildings.
According to the PEDA building’s architect, Arvind Krishan, unlike conventional
buildings, the office’s design is in accordance with the external envelope, which he calls
solar envelope.
This envelope refers to the features and materials used in the building’s skin that makes it
responsive to varying weather conditions. The internal structure has floating slabs which
help in air circulation. The building is oriented in the north-south direction, minimising
solar exposure on the western and eastern facades. Although a building’s southern facade
can be shaded, the western façade remains exposed to the setting sun and cannot be
shaded, he explains.
A simulation-based study by the University of Nottingham in the UK says the PEDA
building functions successfully as a passive solar complex.

5. PEDA Office Chandigarh

6.  Three dimensional configuration of the building
evolved in response to solar geometry.
 Elements of building i.e. building envelope, plan form
etc. evolved in response to solar geometry.
 Renewable energy systems i.e PV integrated in the roof
as an element of design.
 Project awarded ‘5 star project’ by Bureau of
Energy Efficiency Govt. of India with EPI of 14.1
kwh/sq.m/year. The most energy efficient
building in the country.

8. OUR WORK IS NOT BASED
ON ANY
PRE-CONCEIVED NOTION
OF ARCHITECTURE
 IT EVOLVES BASED ON
LAWS OF NATURE
~ARVIND KRISHAN

9.  Entire building envelope a : Solar Receptor, Converter, Dissipater
SOLAR ENVELOPE CAN BE DESIGNED WITH COMPONENTS
RESPONDING TO :
 Produce direct energy through PV.
 Distribute day-light, within the building, creating a healthy day-
lit environment and in open spaces.
 Create ventilation: Solar Chimneys
 To cool or heat the building, when coupled with earth tunnels
using the thermal inertia of the earth and Trombe walls, in
innovative approaches.

10. GROUND FLOOR PLAN

11. ELEVATIONS

12. SECTIONAL PERSPECTIVE

13. SECTION

14. PEDA Office
Building Envelope in response to Solar geometry and Renewable Energy
Systems Integration

16. Energy Efficiency of a Reference Thermosyphon Collector
(Solar Chimney)
TEMPERATURE RISE AND EFFICIENCY
SOLAR CHIMNEY – under +overflow

18. There is an integrated 25 kWp solar photovoltaic
plant in the building.More than half of the building’s
electricity requirement is provided by the panels. The
panels are placed on the roof of the atrium,
in between two sheets of toughened glass. This helps
filter daylight.

20. PEDA Office Chandigarh, India –
A New Language of Sustainable Architecture

21. FLOORS FLOATING IN A LARGE VOLUME OF AIR

23. ELEMENTS OF BUILDING
1.WALLS
2.ROOF
3.SOLAR SHELLS
4.SHELL ROOFING
5. PHOTOVOLTAIC PANEL
6. WATER FOUNTAIN
7. WIND TOWER

24. 1. WALLS
They are made of two layers of bricks with a
5 cm air gap in between. In southern and
western façades, insulation (consisting of 60
cm by 60 cm panels of 5 cm thick rock wool
wrapped in polyurethane sheets) has been
placed between the layers of bricks in
addition to the air gap. This is done to
reduce the amount of heat transferred from
the outside to the inside through the walls.
The combination of a brick wall with air gap
reduces heat transfer by 50 per cent as
compared to a conventional brick wall. If
insulation is added along with the air gap,
the heat transfer decreases by 85 per cent.

25. 2. ROOF
As maximum heat gain is through the roof, a
rockwool-and-polyurethane insulation at an
air gap of 5 cm from the concrete slab has
been placed. Top layer is made of mud
phuska and brick tiles for further heat-
proofing.

26. 3. SOLAR SHELLS
These concrete domed structures on the
southwestern façade are one of the well-
recognised innovations of this project. The
domes have horizontal and vertical
intersecting fins with glass fixed in the
voids. These voids allow natural light with
reduced glare. The shading action of the fins
allows indirect sunshine to enter the
building in summers and direct sunshine in
winters

27. PEDA Office
Solar Shells
day light for working areas
During Construction

28. Office Layout

29. 4. SHELL ROOFING
A portion of the roof of the atrium (open
space in the centre of the building) is
covered by a lightweight shell roofing. The
roofing consists of 10 cm of high-density
EPS (extruded polystyrene) sandwiched
between high-grade FRP (fibre-reinforced
plastic) sheets reinforced with steel.
In summer the sun is almost overhead at
noon while in winter it is at a lower angle.
Keeping this in mind, the shell roof is
angled in such a manner that the opening
beneath the shell is shaded from the
summer sun but allows the winter sun to
penetrate.

30. PEDA Office
HYPERBOLIC PARABOLOID
SHELL ROOF

33. 5. PHOTOVOLTAIC PANELS
There is an integrated 25 kWp solar
photovoltaic plant in the building. More
than half of the building’s electricity
requirement is provided by the panels. The
panels are placed on the roof of the atrium,
in between two sheets of toughened glass.
This helps filter daylight.
PHOTOVOLTAIC AS
INTEGERAL COMPONENT OF
ROOF
BIPV & HYPERBOLIC
PARABOLOID ROOF

34. DAYLIGHTING
Sunlight entering through solar shells, shell
roofing, glass-integrated photovoltaic panels
and windows made of unplasticised PVC
meets the building’s lighting requirement,
including that of the basement.

35. Fascinating Architecture
6. WATER FOUNTAIN
These are operational during hot and dry
months (April to June) and help decrease
the interior temperature through direct
evaporative cooling

36. Day lit Working
Environment
DAYLIGHTING
Sunlight entering through solar shells, shell
roofing, glass-integrated photovoltaic panels
and windows made of unplasticised PVC
meets the building’s lighting requirement,
including that of the basement.

37. VENTILATION
The wind tower (7) is expected to function
as a non-mechanical air-conditioning
system, but the mechanical component for
the tower (ambiator) is yet to be installed. It
will soon be installed, say PEDA officials.
The ambiator uses the method of indirect
evaporative cooling in which water cools the
air without coming into contact with it. This
method works well in humid conditions,
says Darshi Dhaliwal, responsible for
devising the ambiator. Currently, the tower
is used to expel hot air from within the
building.
Fresh air rushes in from the openings in the
envelope, passes over the floor and escapes
through the tower top. Due to the building’s
expanse and workstation panels (8), this
flow is inadequate to maintain thermal
comfort. So, coolers have been installed.

38. WIND TOWER
BIPV

39. Architecture – Structure Symbiosis
ARCHITECTURE OF P.E.D.A OFFICE

40. SUN GENERATES ARCHITECTURE - PEDA Office

41. GIVES HARMONY

42. VISUAL CONTINUITY

43. Restful Working Environment

44. 5 STAR
RATING 2010
BASED ON
ACTUAL
PERFORMANCE
14 kwh /sq.m/per year
.
BUREAU OF
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
GOVT. OF INDIA
Most Energy Efficient
Building in the country
ACHIEVEMENT :

45. •Evaporative cooling towers work best with open floor plans that permit the air
to circulate through out the building without any obstacles.
•Good thermal mass of the building helps the building to perform in extreme
conditions. Appropriate building design and orientation having properly
placed building elements reduced or minimize the solar gain in summer.
•Elements like light Vault, Solar chimney, Hyperbolic parabolised atrium roof
help to minimize the solar gain.
•From the TAS result it can be concluded that the atrium space is working
properly with application of PDEC system by getting 10-12°C lower than
ambient temperature, which also helps to cool the neighboring south office
space to maintain a comfortable space to work.
• From all evidences Punjab Energy Development Agency
(PEDA) office building can be called as a passive solar
complex. Overall the building performs well whole of the
year. Evaporative cooling is required in May & June
CONCLUSIONS

46. http://arvindkrishan/project-punjab-
energy-development-agency-office-
building-chandigarh
http://arvindkrishan.com/?p=220
http://arvindkrishan.com/?p=220
Thank you !!!
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