The foundation stone laying ceremony for Centre for Environmental Sciences & Engineering Building
at IIT Kanpur on April 23rd, 2006

Shri. Arun Shourie honorable member of Rajya Sabha had donated Rs. 11 crore for the development of the bio-sciences department at IITK Kanpur


Shri Arun Shourie with Professor S G Dhande, Director, IIT Kanpur

Environmental degradation constitutes a grave problem for our country today. Environmental issues/problems have become increasingly inter-disciplinary and complex. This centre will bring together experts from various disciplines to focus on providing solutions to specific environmental problems and work towards environmental health issues. Environmental remediation as well as the development of green technologies will confer immediate benefit to our citizens. The proposed Centre will be involved in developing futuristics technologies in the area of environment. This will not only raise the reputation of our country as a generator of knowledge that is of direct benefit to mankind but also generate business opportunities for our scientists and industry.
 

It is expected that after a few years this Centre will be self-sustaining by attracting funds from industry as well as from other sponsoring agencies. It will also be able to generate funds by licensing the patents acquired for the developed technologies. A leading industrial house of India has already shown interest in collaborating in the area of environmental pollution.

It is hoped that with the generous funding from the MPLADS scheme, a world-class Centre for Environment Sciences and Engineering will be established at IIT Kanpur. The proposed building will house 10 laboratories and other facilities for various disciplines of environmental science and engineering. The building has been designed such that it is not only functional but also energy efficient. Several green features like insulated walls, ceiling and window glasses, Reflective terrace, Earth Air Tunnel, Water body on the North side of the building, Rain water harvesting, water efficient sanitary fixtures, energy efficient electrical fixtures, eco friendly refrigerant for air conditioning, shading of the Building with plantation and mechanical devices and use of solar energy for heating and lightning have been incorporated in the building design.

These energy efficient features shall reduce the impact on the environment by reducing consumption of electricity, water demand, air-conditioning load, and other energy requirements. Moreover, it will be ensured that the negative impact of construction and development on the environment is minimized.

The building shall be evaluated for Greenness and appropriate (Tata Engineering Research Institute) TERI GRIHA certification shall be obtained.