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Indian Journal of Science and Technology, Vol 10(18), DOI: 10.17485/ijst/2017/v10i18/99175, May 2017ISSN (Print) : 0974-6846

ISSN (Online) : 0974-5645

Sustainable Environment: Practices in Indian Space Research Organization - A Case Study

Suja Abraham, T. Balaji and S. Renjith

Civil Engineering Programme Office, ISRO Headquarters, Bangalore – 560094, Karnataka, India; [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

AbstractObjective: This paper illustrates the need for sustainable environment and various measures being implemented at ISRO, highlighting the investment and benefits derived out of such measures. Methods: ISRO being public organization is always committed towards environmental well-being. Some of the measures adopted in view of environmental sustainability are i) Use of Green building concepts, ii) Use of renewable energy, iii) Water conservation methods, iv) Recycling of wastes etc., Findings: Green buildings, though require an initial capital, helps in reducing the environmental impact and contributes in energy conservation by installation of occupancy sensors, VRV, IAQ, use of low-emitting materials etc., Water conservation initiatives provides an alternative source of water supply under the critical situation of short supply from water supply board and depleted yield of the bore wells. All these sustainable measures are practically installed and effectively used, which brings out many tangible and intangible benefits to the organization and surrounding environment. Improvements: As capital investment is less and benefits achieved are more, the above measures can be practiced in all kinds of buildings irrespective of their size and nature. Considering this, additional solar power plants, floating solar panels, harnessing wind energy, biogas plants are proposed to be implemented.

Keywords: ISRO, Rainwater Harvesting, Solar Power, Solid Waste, Sustainability, U-Value

1. Introduction

1.1 About ISROIndian Space Research Organization (ISRO), formed in 1969, is having a key role in development of space technology in Nation’s growth and has become one of the six largest space agencies in the world. ISRO develops and delivers application specific satellite products and tools to the Nation: broadcasts, com-munications, weather forecasts, disaster management tools, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), cartog-raphy, navigation, telemedicine, dedicated distance

education satellites being some of them. To achieve these applications, it was essential to develop cost effi-cient and reliable launch systems, which took shape in the form of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) and GSLV MKIII. ISRO also successfully completed the mission to Moon (Chandrayaan) and Mars (Mars orbiter mission- MOM).

ISRO with its motto – Space technology in the ser-vice of mankind, is always committed towards preserving the environment and make it sustainable for future generation.

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1.2 Environmental SustainabilitySustainable development is a form of progress that meets the needs of the present without comprising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. In that context, Sustainable Environment is defined as the responsible interaction with the Environment to avoid depletion or degradation of natural resources and allow for long term environmental quality. This helps to ensure that the needs of today’s population for environmental resources are fully met without jeopardizing the needs of future gen-erations.

The global environmental degradation and the green-house effect caused by carbon-di-oxide emissions have seriously threatened to the global environment. Therefore, reducing fossil fuel consumption and achieving sustain-able environment are great significance.1 Thus, a work has been taken up to bring out the various measures adopted by ISRO in creating a sustainable environment. The mea-sures adopted are discussed in detail as follows.

2. Measures Adopted

Buildings have major environmental impacts during their entire life cycle. Resources such as ground cover, forests, water, and energy are diminishing to give way to buildings.

It is well recognized globally that buildings are respon-sible for more than 40% of total energy use. It is also recognized that the buildings represents amongst the best and most cost effective opportunities for reducing energy demand because it is possible to reduce energy consump-tion through appropriate climate responsive building design and energy efficiency measures.

With this in mind, Civil Engineering group of ISRO has taken up various sustainable environment measures such as i) adopting green building techniques in almost all the new constructions, ii) use of renewable source of energy, iii) implementing water conservation methods, iv) solid waste management etc.,

3. Green Building Concepts

Climate warming influences human living conditions and natural environment, which is the basis for social and economic development, at the same time, the rapid development of the society aggravates the environmental pollution, and also Greenhouse gas emissions that result

in climate warming.2 Hence, there is growing concern over the likely adverse impacts of climate change (now being felt by people) and growing recognition of the need to take effective steps for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, there exists a need to construct a green building which not only takecare energy conservation but also look into the water and waste water management, environmental impact, and minimum destruction to nat-ural resources.

In view of the vast benefits achieved through green buildings, ISRO buildings are planned and built with green building features. Some of the major projects like facilities at National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), Shadnagar campus has achieved Platinum LEED rating, Antrix building at Bangalore has achieved Gold LEED rat-ing. Also, Residential campus at Shillong and Laboratory building at National Atmospheric Research Laboratory (NARL), Gadanki are being considered for GRIHA rat-ings because of their eco-friendly planning.

Two major buildings of ISRO and their green building features are studied below:Antrix Corporation Building

3.1 Antrix Corporation BuildingIt is a business corporation building located at Bangalore, functions as a marketing arm of ISRO for promotion and commercial exploitation of space products, technical consultancy services and transfer of technologies devel-oped by ISRO.

This building with an area of 3600 Sq.m (G+4), (Figure 1) has contested for LEED India Rating and achieved ‘GOLD RATING’. Project attains 39 credit points and all the pre-requisites under following heads. a) Sustainable Sites, b) Water efficiency, c) Fundamental Building Systems Commissioning, d) Material and Resources, e) Indoor Environmental Quality and f) Innovation & Design process. Apart from planning stage, the following green building procedures are adopted during construc-tion also.

• Construction waste management (divert 75% from disposal)

• Erosion and sedimentation control, to reduce negative impacts on water/ air quantity.

• Low- emitting materials (Adhesives & Sealants)• Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) management plan• Filter for Storm Water Drain for TSS Removal.• Roofing with high Solar Reflectance Index: SRI>78


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• Water fixtures with low flow rate. • Installation of CO2 sensors.• Sewage treatment plant

Figure 1. Antrix Corporation building.

3.2 Facilities at Shadnagar CampusThe campus is spread across 316 acres (Figure 2), hous-ing Integrated Multi-mission Ground Segment for Earth Observation Satellites (IMGEOS) and National Database for Emergency Management (NDEM) facility which sup-ports a real time Satellite Data reception and processing. While deciding to develop such a scientific operational facility at Shadnagar, ISRO desired to maintain the sustainability of site and existing bio diversity in the sprawling campus. It is the first LEED India ‘PLATINUM’ rated green building among all ISRO centres and novel representative of ISRO’s Green initiative. Green measures considered in this campus are-Double layer Aerocon walls with U-value of 0.061 Btu/hr.ft2/ºF,

• Albido paint having 45% reflectivity, • Underdeck insulation with an U-value of 0.072 Btu/

hr.ft2/ºF,• Glazing with an U-Value of 0.90 Btu/hr.ft2/ºF,• Lighting Power Density ranging from 0.33 W/ft2 to

0.83W/ft2

• Task lights provided for work stations for individual lighting control,

• Water Cooled Centrifugal chiller (5.98 COP), Air-cooled Screw Chillers (3.22 COP), VFD drives for chilled water pumps, MERV 13 air filters for indoor air quality, CO2 sensors etc.,

• Controlled fresh air fan, Building Management system for HVAC & Electrical operation monitoring.

• In addition, Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP), Storm water drain, soil erosion control, water harvesting systems and internal LT grid interactive Solar Power Plant of 300 kWp capacity are also planned in this campus.

Figure 2. IMGEOS and NDEM facility at Shadnagar campus.

4. Renewable Energy

Energy is the power and backbone of a country’s develop-ment and generation of wealth. In future, we must have a sustainable, affordable and environment friendly energy supply. Gradually, renewable sources will replace the con-ventional fossil energy sources.3

India has one of the best solar (renewable) resources in the world. If this source is properly harnessed and uti-lized, the energy requirements can be fulfilled with ease without depending on imports of fossil fuels. Accordingly, ISRO has taken initiatives to harness the solar power meaningfully and use for own applications.

Electricity demand of ISRO is about 50 MW and total annual energy requirement is 170,000 Mwh (17 crore units). The total electricity charges being paid is in the order of Rs. 70-90 crores annually. Considering the future planned facilities, these numbers may go high.

From the India Solar resource map (Figure 3) pub-lished by Solar Energy Centre, it is seen that most ISRO centres are falling in the zone where there is potential to harness solar power.4

In view of the above, ISRO is establishing Grid sup-ported solar power plant of 5Mwp in phased manner at a cost of Rs.40 crores, in all ISRO centres, which will enable to meet 10% of the electricity demand of ISRO through solar energy. A schematic plan of a 50kWp solar power



plant is shown in Figure 4 and a plant installed at one of the Bangalore centres is shown in Figure 5.

In addition to direct benefit of harnessing non-conventional energy, it will have numerous intangible benefits in terms of ecology, environment and social cost. Capacity of solar power plants implemented and units generated are described in Table 1. It is assessed that the investment will be paid back in 08-12 years.

Figure 3. Solar resource Map of India.

Figure 4. Schematic plan of a 50kWp solar power plant.

Figure 5. Typical solar panel installation (at Bangalore).

Table 1. Solar power generation at ISRO – Phase I (3 Mwp)State of ISRO Centre

Type of installation

Solar plant capacity (kWp)

Units generated/

month (kWh)

Karnataka Roof/ Ground 980 101271

Telengana Roof 200 20236

Kerala Roof 850 103972

Tamilnadu Roof 220 28683

Andhra Pradesh

Roof 250 35801

Gujarat Roof 250 33412

Madhya Pradesh

Ground 50 6932

Punjab Roof 200 18840

Meghalaya Ground 30 2175

Total 3030 kWp 351322 kWh

5. Water Conservation

In the recent past due to rising population, urbanization etc., the traditional sources of water like lakes, ponds, river streams etc., are getting depleted and polluted and also groundwater table level getting lowered.

In urban areas, construction of houses, footpaths, roads etc., has hardly left exposed earth for water to seep. Therefore, the floodwater quickly flows to the drainage network, which then dries up soon after the rains stop. If this water can be held back, it can seep into the ground



and recharge the groundwater supply. This has become a very popular method of conserving water especially in the urban areas. The idea of ground water recharging by harvesting rainwater is gaining importance in many cities.

Rainwater harvesting essentially means collecting rainwater on rooftops and other surfaces, and the water is carried down to where it can be used immediately or stored. Not only does this recharging arrest ground-water depletion, it also raises the declining water table and can help augment water supply. Considering this, various centres of ISRO, practices suitable rainwater harvesting measures and artificial recharge techniques according to the climate and topography of the region (Table 2).

Table 2. Rainwater harvesting schemes at various centresLocation of ISRO Centre Rainwater Harvesting

StructuresMahendragiri, TN(6500 acres, Rain Shadow Region

Check dams across Nallah.Percolation ponds.Masonry diversion toe wall.

Valiamala, KL(54 acres, Humid area)

Y-shaped roof for rainwater harvesting.Forming earthen bund at downstream side.

Aluva, KL (52 acres, Humid Area)

Rainwater harvesting pond of 45000 cum. Earthen drains for conveying the water.

Bangalore, KA(101 acres, Hard rock area and 11 acres, Tank Bed area)

Topographically Interlinked ponds.Percolation pits.Recharge pond, recharge pits.Roof water collection Ground Level Reservoirs.

Gadanki, AP(55 acres, Dry Area)

Rain water collection ponds.

Ahmedabad, GJ(80 acres, Arid Area)

20 Nos. recharge wells.

5.1 Brief about Rainwater Harvesting Scheme Implemented at ISRO Headquarters

Secretariat of Department of Space and various pro-gramme offices are located at ISRO Headquarters,

Bangalore. The total area of the Campus is about 43000 Sq.m. and the total built-up area (foot print area) is 19355 Sq.m. The facilities in the Campus include Offices, Computer installations, Conference halls, Auditorium, Canteen, Library, etc., The campus also includes a Garden area of about 7900 Sq.m. The approximate occupancy of the campus is 600 nos. The approximate water demand of the campus works out to 85000 litres per day (lpd) as indicated in Table 3. Based on the water supply board guidelines rainwater struc-tures required at Antariksh Bhavan works out as shown in Table 4.5 Accordingly, the various type of rainwater harvesting measures implemented at ISRO Hq are tab-ulated in Table 5. Figure 6, 7 and 8, shows schematic sketch of various rainwater structures implemented. The structures and pipelines are designed in accor-dance with National Building Code.6 The cost and benefits derived out are show in Table 6.

Table 3. Water demand of the campus

Type of use No of occupants or area (Sq.m)

Water demand in lpcd or per Sq.m.

Total water demand (litres)

Domestic: 600 Nos 45 per day 27000

CISF Barrack 40 Nos 180 per day 7200

Gardening 7900 Sq.m. 5 per Sq.m. 39500

Air conditioning

10000

Miscellaneous 1300

Total 85000 litres

Table 4. Capacity of rainwater harvesting structures requiredType Area

(Sq.m)Norms

(litres per Sq.m)

Total capacity required (litres)

Land based harvesting

23645 10 2,36,450

Roof based harvesting

19355 20 3,87,100

Total 6,23,550 litres



Table 5. Type of Rainwater harvesting measures implemented at ISRO Headquarters

Land based harvesting methods

Roof based harvesting methods

Recharge Pond (4.5 lakh litres capacity) (Figure 6)• Rainwaterdivertedto

pond through storm water drains.

• Borewellsinsidethepondrecharge ground water.

Recharge pits (Figure 7)• Rechargepitsatvarious

locations along the drain recharge water table.

Recharging existing borewells (Figure 8)• Rainwateriscollected,

filtered and used for recharging existing borewells.

Roof top rain water - stored in Ground Level Reservoirs (GLRs) • Roof-watercollected

through down-take pipes is stored in GLR with03 compartments (for sedimentation, filtration and storage).

• Storedwaterisusedforgardening & recharging ground water.

Table 6. Cost and benefits of RWH implemented at ISRO Headquarters

Cost (Rs in lakhs) Benefits• Total invest-

ment on structures- Rs. 14 L

• Annual savings • Rs. 7.67 L

• Increase in the yield of borewell from 4500 to 7500 litres per hour.

• Increase in the ground water level by 15 feet in one year.

• Improvement in ground water quality.

Figure 6. Recharge Pond with inwell borewell.

Figure 7. Open area inwell borewell (recharge pits).

Figure 8. Recharging existing borewell.

In addition to the use of harvested rainwater for domestic and horticulture use, it is been effectively used for process water use also in one of the ISRO facility – Ammonium Perchlorate Experimental Plant (APEP) Aluva, Kerala, wherein rainwater is collected through artificial pond of 45000 cu.m capacity. Analysis reports shows that the collected water meets drinking standards. However, a water treatment plant of 25 cu.m/hr. capacity with filtration and disinfections units is made to remove the solid particles, odour, colloidal particles etc., and the treated water confirms to IS 10500 standards. The treated water is being used for both domestic and process water needs. With this, about 50% of process water need of the facility has been met with.

6. Recycling of Wastes

A large quantity of organic wastes in the form of solids and liquids, are generated in ISRO facilities and its hous-ing colonies, which are then disposed off in landfills



through collection agents. Sizable amount is being spent towards collection and disposal. Chemical processing plants, compost plants, STPs etc., of different capacities are installed at various centres and Housing colonies to process these generated wastes into a safe disposable/ use-able materials.

These initiatives undertaken by ISRO helped in becoming a key player of ‘Swachh Bharath Abhiyan’ mis-sion initiated by Government of India.

One of such waste treatment plant has been installed at Bangalore housing colony i.e. a solid waste compos-ter (Figure 9). This plant costs about Rs. 9 lakhs only, is capable of processing about 250 kg of domestic wet waste per day and convert it into usable compost. The entire housing colony produces around 190-200 kg of domestic/ waste per day, which is converted into compost and used for horticulture purpose within the campus. A flowchart showing the process of a typical solid waste composter is shown in Figure 10.

Figure 9. A Solid waste composter.

Wet biodegradableDomestic Solid waste

Dry biodegradableBulking waste Material

Shredder Blender

Bio Enzymes

In-VesselCuring systemCompostHorticulture

Figure 10. Flow chart showing typical solid waste compositing.

7. Conclusions

This paper brought out the methods (along with case studies) by which the environment can be made sustain-able and make Earth a better living space. It is seen that the investment required to initiate such measures are very less but can bring in significant changes in the environ-ment we live. Capital investment for establishing these sustainable measures will be paid back in a couple of years.

The water conservation initiatives provides an alterna-tive source of water supply to the campus under the critical situation of short supply of water from water supply board and depleted yield of the borewells. Similarly, a green building helps in reducing the environmental impact and contributes in energy conservation. Renewable technolo-gies are considered as clean sources of energy and optimal use of these resources minimize environmental impacts, produce minimum secondary wastes and are sustainable based on current and future economic and social needs. Research and Development studies promise an optimistic future for the use of renewable energy sources.

In future, ISRO has planned to setup additional solar power plants at various locations, floating solar panels in reservoirs/ponds, solar water heaters, wind turbines, Biogas, use of green materials in constructions, organic farming etc.,

As a conclusion, facility managers, innovators, build-ing designers and other built environment consultants should be responsible for environmental protection and sustainability measures.7

8. Acknowledgements

We thank entire Civil Engineering team of ISRO for tak-ing full efforts to implement various sustainable measures in all their construction works. We also thank ISRO/DOS for giving us opportunity and permission to bring out this work to the public domain.

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4. Solar resources map of India. Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. Date accessed: 03.02.2016. Available from: Crossref

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6. Bureau of Indian Standards. Water Supply, Drainage & Sanitation. Part 9: National Building Code. 2nd Revision. India; 2005. p. 18–78.

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