Structural Engineering and Sustainable Architecture in Kashmir Valley

Adeela Hameed talks to Dr. Raj Suhail (Ph.D.), who co-founded RMS D&B, a design, engineering and project management firm, in 2020, with a vision to ameliorate the existing design and engineering approaches (and processes) prevalent in Kashmir.

Dr. Raj Suhail is a structural engineer and researcher in the field of civil-structural engineering. He is an alumnus of NIT Srinagar with educational qualifications from multiple prestigious institutes, including the University of Surrey, UK (MS), Trinity College Dublin, Ireland and Queen’s University Belfast, UK (Ph.D.). Before moving abroad, Dr. Suhail briefly worked as a civil engineer with the Roads and Buildings Department (R&B PWD) Kashmir. He was primarily involved in research and innovations, either as a researcher (research fellow) or an academician, in various academic institutions of the UK and USA.

This Dialogue Brief acquaints the readers with Dr. Suhail’s philosophy centered on creating sustainable and cost-effective structural solutions without compromising on function, comfort, and aesthetics. His vision is to pave the way for transformational reforms in the engineering sector in Kashmir by creating awareness and introducing international construction standards and practices. Sustainability in the built environment is one of his core research areas, his company aims to develop eco-friendly techniques and plans to cater to the environmental needs of Jammu and Kashmir. RMS D&B believes that civil-structural engineers can contribute effectively in their own way, and within their domain, by encouraging the concept of sustainability and reducing the overall carbon footprint of a project.

The conversation prompts builders to follow a holistic approach when conceiving, designing, or restructuring an idea.

Please introduce your company, your idea to our readers.

I have always felt that there is a need for improvement in the engineering sector in Kashmir. I was always motivated to set up a state-of-the-art engineering facility here. It was only about the right time. While I was abroad, I frequently had chats with my mentor, my dad, who is also a civil engineer (retired though) about how Kashmir’s engineering sector (especially civil engineering) could be upgraded to meet international standards. Of course, when compared to other places, we are lagging not only in the implementation of standard procedures which are internationally accepted, but also in the thought process, awareness, and use of new technology. So, my idea was simple. Do something better!

In early 2020, I alongside my dad and some other friends set up RMS D&B. It is a design and builds firm (D&B) with in-house architects, structural engineers, interior designers, and construction project managers. We also have several international collaborators and floating members (specialists) in the team from different parts of the world like the UK and US. At this stage, we are mostly focused on the design and build of high-end residential, commercial complexes, bridges, and healthcare infrastructure. At RMS D&B, our philosophy centers on creating sustainable and cost-effective solutions without compromising on function, comfort, and aesthetics. Our vision is to pave a way for transformational reforms in the engineering sector in Kashmir by creating awareness and introduction (or re-introduction) of international standards and practices.

We have completed several projects in the past two years. For example, we recently proposed a contemporary design idea of a footbridge, which was approved by one of the executing departments of the government here, and which we believe tends to break the shackles of staying with the old thought process. We have also introduced and implemented, in some ways, the concept of Passivehaus technology in our residential projects to make them more energy-efficient and comfortable all around the year. Although very early to say, we feel we are going in the right direction, one that meets our vision and values.

What fascinated you to pursue this line of work? Any personal anecdotes, inspirations you wish to share.

(Civil) Engineers are literally the builders of a nation. As far as I remember, I developed an interest in civil engineering when I was in kindergarten. I used to make popsicle stick houses and keep them as trophies in my cupboard. Gradually, this interest developed into a passion and now, of course, it is the source of my sustenance as well. My father was also in the same profession, which played an important role for me to pursue it. I was privileged enough to visit construction sites from a very early age.

One example I can share with you is my visits to a water treatment plant at Pokhribal, Srinagar. At that time, the plant was being constructed under the supervision of my father. Every time he would take me there, my father would explain various processes and, in a way, prepare me for bigger challenges. To have learned things from a person very close to you always has a great impact.

Structural engineering is a rigorous field to master. And an even difficult job to work with, given the numerous environmental and socioeconomic factors that come into purview once the project is proposed. Could you, being an expert, elucidate the idea of a near-perfect prospecting operation? 

Structural engineering is a specialist job. It requires a great deal of skill and knowledge to master this profession. An experienced structural engineer does not restrict themselves to just the technical things relevant to his/her profession but approaches the problem in a more holistic manner. For example, as you rightly pointed out, keeping environmental and socio-economic factors into consideration.

As far as the environmental issues are considered, civil-structural engineers are at the forefront and can contribute effectively in their own way, and within their domain, by encouraging the concept of sustainability and reducing the overall carbon footprint of a project. Sustainability is a multifaceted concept but in simpler terms, structural engineers can implement sustainability using materials and processes that have a lesser impact on the environment. They could prioritize procedures (e.g. construction methods) that are environmentally friendly.

Sustainability in the built environment is one of my core research areas. A couple of years ago, I presented my research on the reuse and recycling of waste products in the construction industry at Georgia Tech University, USA. One area I highlighted was the use of decommissioned wind turbine blades in structural applications. We (our research team) proposed using parts of decommissioned wind turbine blades for the construction of footbridges. The idea was received very well. In fact, Cork County, in the Republic of Ireland, is in the process of implementing this idea for its Greenway project. My point is that as a structural engineer, one can always enhance the efficacy of projects by being environmentally friendly.

As far as socio-economic factors are considered, they are always dynamic in nature and change with geographic, political, and economic scenarios. Therefore, the same structural engineer can have different experiences and be exposed to different socio-economic factors at different places. This indeed will have an impact on his decision-making.

Talking about Kashmir, it is a very complex place to bring any kind of changes. There are numerous controlling parameters that make it difficult to bring about any change, even a constructive one. At the public level, we are at a stage where most people don’t know the difference between a structural engineer and a mason aka dasil (or a carpenter or a contractor). It might not be possible for structural engineers to implement all these ideas and standard procedures in full but if we could start a gradual reform today, we might see changes tomorrow. So, awareness is the primary thing we need at this stage.

What are the major drawbacks of structures in Kashmir, including but not limited to, houses, apartment complexes, hotels, shopping malls, parking lots, etc? 

Unfortunately, there are many! I will try to highlight only the most important ones here. Most of the residential buildings constructed here are built without the consultation of an expert. All bets are placed on a craftsman whether that be a carpenter or mason.  People here spend millions on building their houses, yet they hesitate to pay a fraction of it as a consultation fee to an expert. An established psyche here is “I can do better even though I have no knowledge or skills”.

So in most circumstances, the owner decides to be a project manager himself/ herself and gets the structure made with the help of some craftsmen. The consequences of this can be very serious, including sometimes unfortunately a total collapse of structure as we witnessed last year during the heavy snowfall. In almost all other cases, there is a problem related to functionality or serviceability or comfort, or all of the above. For example, high maintenance costs and very low energy efficiency of residential houses.

The low thermal performance of houses in Kashmir has a cascading effect and the potential to grow to a community-level problem. For example, energy use during winters is incredibly high which overburdens the supply (whether that be electricity or fuel consumption) yet the comfort level is deplorable. The entire community suffers. Our homes turn into refrigerators in winters. I want to point out that although locally established, wood paneling is not the best solution to make homes warm. The R-value of wood is far less than other insulating materials such as polyurethane, glass wool and rock wool commonly used in cold places. To put things in perspective, an ordinary brick has a lower insulating capacity than low-density snow. So, living in an igloo could be a better option than living in a bare brick house during winters. I place the low thermal comfort of the house as the number one problem in infrastructure because it has effects at multiple levels.

Other issues include structural safety. Considering we are sitting on highly mobile tectonic plates (Eurasian and Indian Tectonic plates), structural safety is always going to be a concern here. Contrary to what people think, barring a few odd cases, my research suggests that residential houses in Kashmir are relatively safe but are getting uneconomical and massive (I mean mass-wise) day by day. Earthquakes don’t like mass. The more massive your structures, the more the earthquake forces will attract. So, new constructions might be at risk.

My concern is not the two-storey houses but the upcoming commercial buildings which are tall and massive. I have noticed some of them have skipped even the fundamental requirement of earthquake-resistant design – such as the provision of bracing and shear walls. If your building is more than four stories tall and there is no shear wall or bracing system, get a structural engineer, I mean a qualified structural engineer, not a self-proclaimed structural engineer, to inspect it without delay.

There are several other issues I can talk about but probably we cannot discuss everything here. I certainly feel that improper planning, not-so-good use of space, economy and sustainability are other issues we must look into. One thing I would however like to highlight is road infrastructure in Kashmir. It might look irrelevant, but it is not!

Let me give you an example of the traffic mess in Kashmir. What do you think the problem here is with traffic? No, the primary problem is not narrow roads or an increase in the number of vehicles but planning and management of infrastructure. In my opinion, badly planned junctions are the mother of all problems when it comes to traffic mess. There are no road markings, no double or single lines to manage parking along the roads, and no traffic signals. You may find traffic signals at some places but most junctions are not designed to be operated by traffic lights. Hence, they either shut it down or people simply don’t follow it. When you allow convergence of five lanes of traffic into one lane in a span of 10 meters, what do you think will happen? Of course, it will choke the flow. Take the example of Jahangir chowk or Rambagh chowk. Even if we install 100 traffic lights, until we segregate traffic and streamline flow, it is not going to work.

We have tried to highlight these issues over the past two years through social media, workshops and webinars. However, it is not a one-sided problem. People and authorities must come forward and try to create awareness and mechanics whereby the random and haphazard procedure adopted in the infrastructure sector is reformed. When you compare the system, here and abroad, you find the set-up here is very unorganized and not optimized. If you make things difficult to follow, chances are people won’t follow them.

Located amid the freezing Himalayas, Kashmir experiences intense winters year after year. How does the idea of thermal insulation help in overcoming loss of energy and finances during minus waves in our Valley?

I think I have briefly discussed this in the previous question and more information relevant to our local condition in Kashmir can be found on our social media page https://www.facebook.com/rms.design.n.build.

I would, however, try to throw some light on the concept – the means and objectives of thermal insulation. It is not just about sticking thermal insulation on walls, but it is a concept that needs to be dealt with holistically. Otherwise, it is just a waste of money.

So, first, why is thermal insulation a must for houses in Kashmir? You do not need to be a building engineer or scientist to answer this. Do you? No. We all know, in Kashmir winters are cold and summers are hot. Temperatures can drop down to -7oC in winters in Srinagar, i.e., cooler than being in an ordinary refrigerator, and can rise to 35oC or 37oC in summers. With that kind of temperature range, one needs to think a bit seriously when constructing houses. Unfortunately, people here have nailed their attention mostly on aesthetics. No consideration, whatsoever, is given to the comfort (thermal comfort), serviceability, or efficiency of a house’s designs.

To achieve an internationally accepted level of thermal comfort in any house, the temperature in the house should be maintained around 24oC, to be adjusted as per local needs. Below are the tips to achieve a good level of thermal comfort for your house.

Building orientation: Although this isn’t something we always have control over, if we do, you should try to orient your house in the north-south axis or within about 30 degrees of the north-south axis. The south-facing side should be your front and the north the backside. This is because it allows good solar control, affords good daylighting, helps avoid glare and provides some useful passive solar gain during the heating period.

Window area: You should try to optimize your window/glazing area to avoid net excessive heat loss through the windows. On the south elevation, a maximum of 30-35% of the total façade area should give you enough daylighting. This would provide good passive solar gain during the heating period. On the north elevation, you should provide only just enough window area required to meet the daylighting needs (10-15% of the total façade area is what you should be aiming at). This is because windows on the north elevation will always have a net heat loss over the course of a year. Finally, the use of double or triple glazed windows is a must if you wish to insulate your house. Sticking the insulation on the building envelope and leaving windows as it is (i.e., using 3mm windows panes) is not going to be helpful. These windows will become massive thermal bridges and all the heat will be lost through it in no time.

Airtight construction: You do not want gaps and cracks in the building fabric that would add to heat loss. Air leakages (or cold draughts) account for up to 40% of heat losses in an ordinary house. I believe in Kashmir, airtight construction is not even a concept. Massive gaps around the windows, wall joints are common in every house. Try to seal the joints, especially the side of the windows/window panes.

Insulation: The more insulation, the better it is. Provide insulation to achieve the Target U-values given below. Below are the recommended values to achieve high-performance PassiveHaus design. You can relax these set criteria for economic reasons.

Pitched/ Flat roof = 0.15 W/m-K;
Walls/ Windows = 0.22 W/m-K;
Floors = 0.18 W/m-K

Thermal bridging: Thermal bridging accounts for 35% heat loss and adding air leakage to it, heat loss would be as high as 65%. Follow standard construction details to minimize these losses. High-performance construction details could reduce heat losses to 14%. That’s a big saving!

Efficient heating system (not used in Kashmir at all but should): Boilers tend to be more effective than other heating systems provided your house is well insulated. The Hammam (underground heating system) is a good heating system, but the current design adopted in Kashmir is the most uneconomical and inefficient. By providing some modification and controlling the flow of hot air, the efficiency of the hammam design could be increased manyfold.

Remember you must follow a holistic approach and pay special attention to thermal bridges and the airtightness of the building fabric to achieve a good level of thermal comfort.

How does your company aspire to remedy our Valley’s structural malformations?

It has to be a collective effort. All stakeholders need to fulfill their responsibilities. We, at RMS D&B, are trying our bit by creating awareness, and providing services that aim to meet international standards. We offer free consultation in some special cases. We work at the very grassroots level, i.e., by creating awareness in the masses and aspiring engineers (and students) on do’s and don’ts in civil engineering through social media, workshops and webinars. Finally, what you see is what you believe. We aim to achieve all these objectives by giving a practical example – a real existing example.

You can reach Dr. Raj Suhail at [email protected].