Unnati Office
Greater NOIDA, Uttar Pradesh

Orientation

The three-storey building is designed as a cuboid with a central courtyard. It is oriented along the northeast–southwest axis. Core areas such as staircase, services, and utilities which are irregularly occupied, are strategically placed on the east and west sides. This buffers the regularly occupied spaces from direct solar gain.

Landscaping

The landscape design integrates both existing and new vegetation. 30% of the site  remains unbuilt, with shrubs and trees covering 25% of this area. Only native species have been planted, to reduce irrigation water demand as well as energy consumption for pumping. Treated waste water is used for irrigation.

Building Envelope

The building envelope is designed for high thermal efficiency through insulated walls, roofs, and plinth. The walls use Truss Reinforced Insulated Concrete (TRIC) panels, which consist of two layers of autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) sandwiching a 60 mm layer of expanded polystyrene (EPS) insulation.  The plinth is also insulated with polystyrene panels to reduce heat loss to the ground.

The design also incorporates a green roof, featuring 13 mm extruded polystyrene insulation below a 300 mm soil substrate layer that supports vegetation.

The high-performance building envelope achieves 54% reduction in energy consumption relative to the ASHRAE /IESNA Standard 90.1-2010 baseline.

Fenestration

The building has a window-to-wall ratio (WWR) of 30%, balancing daylight with minimized solar heat gain. It incorporates high-performance double-glazed windows that reduce heat transfer. These windows are equipped with integrated motorized blinds and box shading to control glare.

Daylighting

90% of office spaces, including the core and service areas receive uniformly distributed daylight. This is attributed to the building form, central courtyard, narrow floor plates, appropriate sizing and distribution of openings.

Light shelves are placed above the windows to distribute glare-free daylight deeper into the indoor spaces.

Altogether, the passive design strategies effectively reduce the building’s cooling energy needs. The cooling demand is brought down to 208 kW to serve 3740 m² of space.

Unnati Office
Greater NOIDA, Uttar Pradesh

Ventilation

The ventilation system is designed to provide 30% more outdoor air than the baseline requirement of ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2010.This significantly enhances indoor air quality and thermal comfort.

Personal cross-flow fans are installed at every desk to provide users with the opportunity to control air speeds.

Lighting Design

The building employs an energy-efficient lighting system. Energy-efficient fixtures and ballasts reduce lighting energy consumption by 66% compared to the ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2010 baseline. The overall lighting power density (LPD) is 3.6 W/m², significantly lower than the 10.9 W/m² baseline.

Lighting controls minimize internal heat gain and reduce the air-conditioning load. Occupancy sensors minimize lighting use in non-regularly occupied spaces such as toilets, storage areas, and mechanical rooms. 

Approximately 90% of regularly occupied areas maintain an illuminance level between 300 lux and 3000 lux.

HVAC system

The building uses a hybrid HVAC system combining water-cooled air handling units (AHUs) and a ceiling-embedded radiant cooling system. The cooling load is distributed with 45% by the AHUs and 55% handled by the radiant system. The underfloor radiant cooling coupled with fresh air supply, reduces the total volume of air to be cooled and thus saves energy. During winter, the radiant system operates in heating mode, with pipes circulating heated water to warm the interiors. Fresh air ducts supply tempered air to maintain indoor comfort.

As per the adaptive thermal comfort model, the system is set at 25°C-26°C, ensuring adequate comfort conditions.

Indoor Air Quality

The Dedicated Outdoor Air System(DOAS) operates at 8 a.m. to remove moisture that builds up during unoccupied hours and brings down the temperature to desired level before office start-up.

CO₂ sensors are installed to monitor indoor air quality and trigger alarms if levels exceed set limits.

Metering and Monitoring

The building features advanced energy metering systems for the main power supply, chillers, internal and external lighting, air-handling units, water supply, sewage treatment plant, and the solar PV system.

Commissioning

The project followed ASHRAE-recommended commissioning, engaging a third-party commissioning agent and energy auditor. All four phases—design, construction, acceptance, and occupancy were covered to ensure proper implementation of the building envelope, mechanical, and electrical systems.

Unnati Office
Greater NOIDA, Uttar Pradesh

The building meets 40% of its energy demand through a rooftop solar PV system. The 100 kW plant generates approximately 146 MWh of electrical energy annually.

Unnati Office
Greater NOIDA, Uttar Pradesh

LEED v4 Platinum Case Study: Unnati Office Building

Unnati: A State of the Art

Gainwell Commosales Awarded LEED Platinum

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