Address at the GreenCo Summit 2013

of Confederation of Indian Industry

at Suzlon Excellence Academy, Pune
15th July 2013
Sustainable System for Nations Development
Vision of the humanity is the
Liveable Planet Earth

I am delighted to participate in the GreenCo Summit 2013 with

the Theme: How to Green your company? Organised by the
Confederation of Indian Industry at the Suzlon Excellence Academy,
Pune.

My

greetings

to

the

Industry

representatives,

Green

ambassadors, distinguished guests, special invitees and the leaders

of the Green initiatives launched through the GreenCo Rating system,
which rates the companies on their environmental friendliness and
suggest the way forward. It is also interesting to note that companies
are taking steps for environmental friendliness in their various
activities. My greetings to all of you for making this noble cause of
green profile for the country. When I am with this gathering let me
share some of my thoughts on the title Sustainable System for
Nations Development.
What is a company or an industry?
abode of human life.

It is indeed a miniature

It needs life supporting systems, like water,

clean air, conditioned environment, waste management, electricity to

power the systems and above all three dimensional human beings as
actuators of the companies and buildings to house all the companies
activities.

21st century companies will have unique challenges of

maximising the output, human resources and machinery with

minimum clean water availability and with minimum clean air and
Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam
www.abdulkalam.com

Page 1 of 13

maximum fossil fuel driven electricity.

That calls for

visionary

decisions for solar and wind powered company and generation of

water bodies inside the company, so that during the rainy season
water will be collected and processed and for some use water can be
recycled and above all using fifth energy source, that is efficiently
using electric power with minimum transmission loss.
Development and Environment
Friends, the urgent need of todays world are the empowerment
of the rural and underprivileged population of the world. This
represents almost half of humanity a Target of 3 Billion. But we
need to be careful about how the 21st century development impacts
the environment and how we utilize the limited resources available to
humanity. Efficiency of the process of current of methods inclusion is
starkly low and grossly expensive for the environment. The current
economy of excess comes at a huge cost on the environment. In
1990s, The Biosphere 2 experiment was conducted to determine how
much resource an average human being requires at our current
consumption

patterns.

Some

startling

revelations

followed.

It

indicated that an average Briton would require close to 5 Hectare, or

roughly six football fields to provide at the current consumption levels
and to absorb the subsequent waste generated. An average, North
American would require twice that amount of land, about 10
Hectares. India of course, has far lesser burden, but it is going only
upwards with time. Earth, howsoever large, is limited. Even if all the
cultivable land was allotted to human beings, the average size per
person would work to about 1.67 Hectares only. If every human being
starts living like a North American today, do you know how many
planet earths we will need? We would need 6 planet earths to suffice
Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam
www.abdulkalam.com

Page 2 of 13

our consumption. Current models are not only ineffective but also
perilously expensive on the environment and simply too cumbersome
of the land resources available to us. As industrialists, scientists,
technologists and humanists, all of you would thus have to focus on
sustainable development in new innovative ways which would
require focus on waste management, land management, water
conservation, recycling and bringing different disciplines of science
together to realize a more eco-friendly sustainable development
system. Fortunately, the GreenCo Summit 2013 addresses one part of
the sustainable development. It is indeed a good beginning.
In this GreeCo Summit 2013, I would like to discuss three
aspects on which I have done some work which

would like to

share. One is energy consumption targets another is fifth fuel and

the third one is solar powered houses for India.
Energy consumption: Targets
One of our experts says that for a normally constructed
building, the present energy consumption in India is 300 kwh per m
sq annually which can be brought down to 140 kwh per m sq
annually by proper designs/details/philosophy, whereas in Germany
with its strict energy codes it is reported that the consumption is only
50 kwh per m sq annually. It is all the more important for India to
achieve at least a target of 100 KWh per m sq annually within the
next 5 years. This will need coordinated effort between architects,
builders and the energy engineers, a newly developed expertise.
The architects and building planners have to play a very
important role in the design of the building with these features. The
seeds of this perspective have to be sown in the schools of
Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam
www.abdulkalam.com

Page 3 of 13

architecture and town planning. Energy conservation should start

right from the location of the site, the direction of buildings, windows,
doors, glare etc., the aim should be to use maximum advantage of the
sun and wind, while minimizing the wasteful heat load from sun into
the buildings and roofs.
Intelligent buildings and corporate
Buildings use of 50% of global energy and account for
comparable of heat trapping emissions. Integrated design with
multiple energy efficiency measures can reduce energy use at least
half of the conventional building and gains of greater than 80% have
been achieved. The emerging trends of intelligent buildings and green
buildings entail the use of modern technology, smart materials and
eco friendly designs. For example, I have seen the hollow building
material made out of fly ash, not only is more environment friendly,
but also a better insulator of heat and cold. Such eco-friendly, costeffective material can make the building more energy efficient.
The building environment and comfort conditions of intelligent
buildings

could

be

monitored

and

altered

to

suit

specific

requirements using new processing tools like neural networks and

fuzzy logic.

The future holds a lot of promise as new concepts in

nano-technology; smart materials and design software will open fresh

avenues and unleash an era of efficient and sustainable buildings.
The new edge green enterprises will give birth of new cadre of jobs green corridor jobs. These jobs will be around business which either
supply a green power or green power generating equipment.

Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam
www.abdulkalam.com

Page 4 of 13

Embodied Energy
The construction sector plays a significant role in economic
development of the country. Activities in the construction sector are
complex, highly dispersed and resource demanding. The activities of
the sector result in the loss of important natural assets and impose
severe stress on the environment. Agricultural land is often lost
through

urbanization

and

extraction

of

raw

materials.

The

consumption of fossil fuels contributes to increased air pollution and

emissions of greenhouse gases. Energy is required for manufacturing
materials, for transport and for construction of buildings. Apart from
this initial energy use, there is also need for energy for functioning of
buildings. In the developed countries there is a growing demand for
an environmental impact assessment of all building projects, which
includes considerations of embodied energy i.e. the energy that is
consumed in extraction of raw materials and production of finished
building materials.
However,

construction

is

crucial

to

the

prosperity

and

civilization of human beings. People require habitats, schools, work

places, markets, places for sports and cultural activities. Our task
therefore is to have more and better construction for our billion
people, but minimize per capita energy consumption in the whole
chain by value addition in construction and maintenance. There is a
need to reduce the embodied energy especially in respect of office
buildings, hospitals and hotels by at least 10% of the present
embodied energy consumed which is in the region of five thousand
kilo watt hour per square meter.

Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam
www.abdulkalam.com

Page 5 of 13

I am happy that a good beginning has been made due to the

enactment of the Energy Conservation Act 2001, Bureau of Energy
Efficiency has been formed which has initiated the task of developing
Energy Conservation Building Codes.
Human society and energy
Friends, traditionally, the human society has seen through four
levels of fuels. The first fuel is Wood which began with the discovery
of fire some 1 million years ago. The second fuel is oil and particularly
petroleum products which is as new as the late 19th century, only
about 100 years old. The third fuel is nuclear which is barely 50
years old. Now the fourth fuel is being termed as the Green Sources
like Solar and Wind which are becoming commercially viable and
technologically feasible within the last two decades.
Now, we are already talking of the fifth fuel which is not a
hardware fuel in the conventional sense. It is Energy Efficiency.
Various reports suggest that Building Energy Efficiency is perhaps
the most economically feasible, and convenient way to generate
energy by actually saving it. More than any form of technology, what
it needs is the social awareness and incentives for the industries and
homes to go green. Moreover, in India, like most developing nations,
there is a great scope for this fifth source of energy. For instance, in
distribution of the power alone, the losses are over 40% in many
states, there is also an immense scope for energy efficiency at
household levels ranging from cooking fuels to smart buildings which
can save up to 50% of the energy consumption.

Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam
www.abdulkalam.com

Page 6 of 13

My suggestion for Solar power panelled houses

Friends, recently I addressed the Economist Conference on
Perspectives on Indias energy future. There I made a suggestion for
Indias energy future through a household level Solar power paneled
houses and Street lights.
India has approximately 200 million houses out of which
60 million houses do not have access to electricity. My suggestion is,
necessity of a national policy to provide grid independent distributed
generation solar panel houses to these dwellings first which can be
extended to other 140 million houses gradually. Also the street lights
can be provided on community based solar panels in villages, towns
and cities. This will bring to India a vibrant solar panel industry right
from innovative development, efficiency enhancement, production,
distribution, marketing and maintenance of trouble free solar energy
system as a business. This will also generate a large number of
employment opportunities for the youth.
This integrated business solution will bring down the cost of
solar power generation and also distribution loss. The action of
creating solar paneled houses and street lights will release nearly
50,000 60,000 MW of power for use by various sectors of the
economy propelling the national growth. It will also be useful for
providing low cost electricity to other developing nations in the world.
Industries and companies have to first opt solar power and normal
grid supply for other power needs.

Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam
www.abdulkalam.com

Page 7 of 13

Transforming Green building to sustainable design buildings

Green buildings, sustainable

design buildings and

green

architecture are the hall mark of bringing sustainable clean green

environment in construction and infrastructure development. Green
building

refers

to

structure

and

using

process

that

is

environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a

building's life-cycle: from siting to design, construction, operation,
maintenance, renovation, and demolition.

The Green Building

practice expands and complements the classical building design

concerns of economy, utility, durability, and comfort. Although new
technologies are constantly being developed to complement current
practices in creating greener structures, the common objective is that
green buildings are designed to reduce the overall impact of the built
environment on human health and the natural environment by:

Efficiently using energy, water, and other resources

Protecting occupant health and improving employee productivity

Reducing waste, pollution and environmental degradation

While the practices or technologies employed in green building are

constantly evolving and may differ from region to region, fundamental
principles persist from which the method is derived: Siting and
Structure

Design

Efficiency,Materials

Efficiency,
Efficiency,

Energy
Indoor

Efficiency,

Water

Environmental

Quality

Enhancement, Operations and Maintenance Optimization, and Waste

and Toxics Reduction.

The essence of green building is an

optimization of one or more of these principles. Also, with the proper

synergistic design, individual green building technologies may work
together to produce a greater cumulative effect.
Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam
www.abdulkalam.com

Page 8 of 13

Sustainable design is the philosophy of designing physical

objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the
principles of social, economic, and ecological sustainability. The
intention

of

sustainable

design

is

to

"eliminate

negative

environmental impact completely through skillful, sensitive design".

Manifestations of sustainable design require no non-renewable
resources, impact the environment minimally, and connect people
with the natural environment.
Beyond the elimination of negative environmental impact,
sustainable

design

must

create

projects

that

are

meaningful

innovations that can shift behaviour. A dynamic balance between

economy and society, intended to generate long-term relationships
between user and object/service and finally to be respectful and
mindful of the environmental and social differences.
Suggestions: Energy Conservation Implementation Strategies
Energy is a vital input for industry. Enterprise wise energy
conservation is an important wealth generator for every industry. For
ensuring competitiveness per capita energy utilization is an important
index. Keeping this in mind, I would request the experts assembled
here to address the following issues relating to practical energy
conservation implementation strategies:
(a)

Evolving energy utilization norms for different industry such

as cement, aluminum, steel, fertilisers and textile etc on per
capita basis and provide a challenge to designers to work
towards the target.

Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam
www.abdulkalam.com

Page 9 of 13

(b)

Creating an enterprise wise review within each of the above

sectors, mechanism to reveal the variance from planned
utilization to the actual. As far as possible try to allocate the
responsibility for this variance and take immediate corrective
action.

(c)

Creating an idea bank in which employees can provide

innovative solutions for energy efficient operations.

There

must be a system of analysis of ideas for implementing

practical ideas on the shop floor and suitable reward.
(d)

It is essential to install progressively, the energy efficient nano

lamps, energy efficient heating and AC system in the
enterprise.

For

example,

nearly

seventy

five

million

households in the rural sector today do not have electrical

connection. It would be a great saver of electricity if we can
install nano crystal based LED lamps in all these rural
houses.
(e)

A mission mode programme can be created for energy

conservation. We have to set yearly target of saving twenty
five billion units of electrical power per year from the present
3.2 billion units, so that we can wipe out the existing
shortage within the next four years.

Research areas
Combating

the

generation,

handling,

transportation

and

disposal of e-waste has become a subject of paramount importance to

the nation today. For building adequate capacity of modern cost
effective disposal systems will need continuous research by the
Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam
www.abdulkalam.com

Page 10 of 13

recyclers, electronic systems manufacturing and user groups as a

whole. The research areas include are:
a)

Design for environment.

b)

Design for longer life

c)

Modularity to enable replacement of specific parts

d)

Recycling processes and systems

e)

Eco labeling

f)

Dis-assembly

g)

Greening supply chains

h)

Life cycle assessment

i)

Bio-inspired material
These tasks can be taken by a central agency created for this

purpose by the electronic manufacturers and ICT companies of India

and abroad with notional funding based on their turn over. The
government on its part must provide incentives for such research
missions.
Conclusion : Livable Planet Earth
On 02 Nov 2012, while addressing the Beijing Forum at China, I
proposed the thought how important is a Liveable Planet Earth. The
humanity needs a great vision to forget all the conflicts and move
towards a common goal of peace and prosperity for all the global
citizens. We visualize the birth of world vision leading to "Livable
Planet earth". This vision will be greater than any other vision so far
envisioned by the humanity.

Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam
www.abdulkalam.com

Page 11 of 13

I think there cannot be a greater vision for the nations than

transforming our "Planet earth livable". That means, are we leaving a
sustainable world where we have taken less from nature. Today,
technology has made the world borderless and an individual or
organization or a nation can contribute in their own unique ways to
the vision Livable Planet earth even as they work towards their
excellence. Now as a part of the greening organization programmes,
when you initiate recycling, waste management, energy efficiency,
design without pollution, paperless office, efficient archival of records,
environment harnessing, optimizing employee commutation and
travel, effective use of natural light and ventilation, sustainability
education or other relevant activity, you are contributing to this world
vision. They will call for leadership vision, attitudinal changes, science
and technology and above all a sense of pride to the contribution to
society at large. Hence, while creating wealth in the classical sense we
need to find new opportunities to serve the society in ways hitherto
not imagined. And they have impact on wealth and knowledge
generation in tangible and intangible ways.
Friends, large organisations are a small part of the
community itself. When you go through public sector or private sector
establishments, one thing strikes clearly; there are two types of
infrastructure adjacent to each other. While organisations improve
their productivity, competitiveness, employee welfare, they may also
enable improvement of infrastructure and surroundings of their
neighbourhood. The educational institutions, students, teachers
attached to the organisations and the employees serving as well as
experienced persons may be enabled to embark on programmes with
organisations like CII on sustainability education and infrastructure
Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam
www.abdulkalam.com

Page 12 of 13

improvement. With the expertise of organisations on integrated

development, such projects can be handled efficiently.
My best wishes to all the participants of the GreenCo Summit
2013 for success in their mission of promoting How to Green your
company?
May God bless you.

Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam
www.abdulkalam.com

Page 13 of 13