Structural design of food grain godown using sustainable architectural strategies to reduce spoilage

Abstract

The rising demand of food grains and its wastage due to prolonged storage during any unforeseen conditions such as Covid 19 pandemic shows the necessity of sustainable and efficient food grain godowns in India. Sustainable design approach towards the foodgrain godown reduces the wastage of food grains as well as lowers the environmental footprints and energy consumptions. Such approaches include appropriate architectural planning, rainwater harvesting, building orientation/envelope, day lighting and improved indoor environmental quality (IEQ), can increase the productivity of the godown and minimize the rotting/wastage. Considering these factors, a ‘L-shaped’ steel intensive food grain godown is proposed to store wheat which includes sustainable strategies like - site selection & sustainable site planning, sustainable landscape design, water conservation through rainwater harvesting with the site, organic waste management, sustainable building envelope design for the optimization of indoor environment quality – to enhance passive lighting, ventilation; and to regulate temperature and humidity. The structure is analyzed using Tekla Software and designed following the Indian Standard codes Parallel flange sections which show high strength and flexibility are used for the design. Implementing sustainable design approaches in foodgrain godowns significantly enhances the indoor environmental quality, thereby reducing foodgrain wastage during storage.