Design guidelines for construction of energy efficient buildings in North-East India

Energy and Built Environment are closely related, the more is the energy consumption the worse is the environment degradation. The use of natural lighting and the use of solar energy for heating and cooling as well as enhanced natural ventilation not only reduce the commercial energy demand but minimize the impact on environment too. Traditional buildings constructed long back in the different climatic zones of the region have a number of passive features which help in controlling the indoor environment mostly by promoting ventilation, as humidity level is alarmingly high in this region. There are exhibits of indigenous use of locally available materials and techniques to construct buildings that are adapted to local climatic conditions or even to the ethnicity of the community. Guidelines are prepared taking into consideration the different features like site, orientation & planform, building envelope and daylight for low-rise residential buildings; since these are very common in this region.