Environmental Design Solutions

Company Name

Environmental Design Solutions

The roots
Tanmay Tathagat was always fascinated by people who could craft things out of their hands, be it the mason, the carpenter, or a sculptor. “Being an architect fulfills that idea of creating new spaces and shaping the environment,” he says.

The nurturing
His journey towards sustainable buildings began in 1990, while still at School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi. He developed a keen interest in traditional and vernacular architecture, and became a part of the Passive and Low Energy Architecture (PLEA) Group. After graduating, he continued to work at the PLEA Group which was mentored by Jeffrey Cook, a pioneer in solar and bio-climatic architecture. Tathagat followed him to Arizona State University (ASU), where he did his Master’s in Building Design with Cook as his guide. “He instilled a sense of rootedness and mysticism to the practice of design. This was complemented by rigorous training in energy simulation, calculations and fundamentals of building physics by the inspiring faculty at ASU.”

The fruits
Environmental Design Solutions (EDS) was established in 2003 and was founded by Anamika Prasad, who had worked on Green buildings, and Gurneet Singh. Tathagat formally joined them in 2007, after leading the development of the first Energy Conservation Building Code and the Energy Labelling program for Bureau of Energy Efficiency. “We have a multi-disciplinary approach to design and find opportunities of supporting cross-pollination of ideas. Our endeavour has been to be a catalyst of this change and continue to push aggressively towards a sustainable built environment, for our common global future.” EDS has had the honour of teaming-up with some of the leading architectural and engineering firms and providing focused Green building support for the projects globally.

The turning points
The Development of the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC 2017) and the Net Zero Energy Buildings Knowledge Portal (www.nzeb.in) are notches for EDS. ”We feel the impact of these projects will shape the future of all new buildings in India,” says the crusader of sustainable design. Similarly, for the masterplan for IIT’s Jodhpur campus, EDS worked with some of the best minds in the country to design an oasis in the desert, which aims at being a net-zero energy, water and waste campus. The Nirlon Knowledge Park, Mumbai, involved transforming an existing industrial estate into a new world-class infrastructure while retaining the historical character, vegetation and site features; while the greenfield project of T3, Delhi International Airport, was mindboggling for its sheer scale and for being built in a record time while optimising building performance and reducing the environmental impact considerably.

The destination
EDS will continue as a leading sustainable integrated design global practice. “We will be at the forefront, addressing the burning issues of urban development, quality of life in the cities, the state of our environment, with environmental and social sustainability being the core of our work. Net Zero and Carbon Neutral new developments are the new norms of buildings, and EDS is already working on several such projects.”