2018-06-25
The recent developments in Sri Lanka’s infrastructure development and engineering have evoked a keener interest in the development of sustainable green buildings among construction companies in Sri Lanka.
Centuries-old concerns about the tug o’ war between nature and manmade constructions have given rise to a concept of environment-friendly green buildings. Based on the concept of striking an ideal balance between building profitable construction and conserving nature, green building technology explore the full potential of space management as well as water and energy conservation and takes three principles into concern including energy efficiency, environmental stewardship and occupant comfort and well-being.
Due to Sri Lanka’s moderate climatic conditions and high availability of resources, Sri Lanka is an ideal location to test the success of the green construction concepts while tapping to a wealth of resources available to us through Sri Lankan heritage buildings.
Country’s historical sites including ancient temples and palaces of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa periods and colonial-era structures that followed have utilized bio-climatic designs to achieve optimal indoor temperatures also known as the thermal comfort of its inhabitants.
By combining the knowledge of civil engineers and architects and incorporating the latest technologies in waste management few of the civil engineering companies in Sri Lanka have created unique sustainable structures, that are energy and water efficient and aesthetically creative.
The latest leaps in technologies and material used in construction like cement stabilized earth blocks rammed earth walls, and micro concrete tiles have enabled the development of carbon-neutral greener buildings and homes, that does not cost a fortune to build or maintain.
The same balance in sustainability and eco-conservation is now been implemented into infrastructure development in Sri Lanka. Renovation and expansion of country’s road system have become one of the main development goals of the country yet have proven to be a costly exercise through the years.
Discovered by a local engineer, a combination of crystalline silica and the water-soluble polymer is now being tested as a replacement to the conventional concrete, granite, and asphalt, which has been used in infrastructure developers in Sri Lanka of both government and private sectors.
While sustainability in mega developments has been a championed cause in Sri Lanka, development of sustainable dwellings have proven to be a more demanding task yet renewed urban development regulations making rainwater harvesting, well managed and ventilated living space and sustainable garbage disposal a compulsory at a regular home.
Launched as a pilot project in Northern Sri Lanka with UN-Habitat, construction of eco-friendly houses for the homeowners displaced by the country’s civil war was designed to suit the economic and living conditions of its habitats.
Built with cement stabilized earth bricks and treated wood the houses were built with eco-friendly technologies such as fair-faced masonry and earth plaster, the houses have successfully endured the challenges of nature and time proving that sustaiable buildings are a reality in Sri Lanka.
