Is India on a sustainable road or not? Between April 2012 and January 2014 the authors have conducted a quantitative paper and online based user survey on energy awareness and attitudes in Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Pune, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Kolkata. The survey was part of the project “Clime Related Energy Efficient Design - Product Solution (CREED-PS)” first funded under the aegis of Germany India Year 2011-2012 “Germany and India: Infinite Opportunities” with a focus on “City Spaces” and then as part of the project “DWIH Excellence on Tour. 2013-2014.” More than 2000 visitors were interviewed during the events about their individual energy consumption, their knowledge of selected energy issues and energy efficient building design and their sustainability attitudes. The majority of the visitors are part of the academic middle class group in India´s Megacities, as a limited group of India's society. One of the main results are that living in energy efficient residences is very important for most of the respondents, although two third don´t know exactly the energy consumption of their household. Yet, most of the respondents are willing to spend more money in energy efficient and energy saving building devices and household equipment. Summing up one can say that the interviewed middle class group (Shukla, 2005, Mawdsley, 2004) is on the sustainable road, although we have identified several inexplicable contradiction in knowledge and awareness as topics for further research work that are relevant for building and product design. This paper illustrates on the one hand the use of survey as part of an integrated design process and suggests on the other hand collaborative approaches to educating architecture and design students about sustainability in building and product design.@en

Façade plays an important role in modern movement architecture and a critical role in the conception of energy and climate-optimized buildings: it is the building's skin and functions as an interface between interior and exterior space. It provides thermal and sound insulation and ventilation, and controls and guides the entrance of daylight into the building. Tropical climates have unique challenges to reduce solar heat gain through building envelope to make buildings energy efficient. India has a rich tradition of different forms of architecture and design principles - most of them are perfectly adapted to the climatic requirements and constructed with local building materials and technology. In the twentieth century, Modern Movement Architecture shows a global trend towards transparent, light-flled buildings with great expanses of windows and façades with advanced building technology. However, the twentieth century modern movement architecture in India evolved in response to the climate and culture. In India, remarkably diverse constellations of façade design can be traced in modern architecture often taking into consideration traditional Indian principles combining them with new materials and constructions. Most of them marked by overhanging balconies and horizontal brise-soleils and as an example of a human scaled urban infrastructure offering private and public green spaces in transition. After independence in 1947 more public, administrative and governmental buildings followed in the tradition of the modern movement and with emblematic character. This paper presents a review of the influences of modern movement architecture on today's facade design in tropical climate of India. The purpose of this review is to reappraise works of the masters of the modern movement, in the context of today's energy and environmental value system; a value system which justifies a greater capital cost in money terms with a view to minimize recurrent costs in energy terms and environmental degradation.@en