A Clean Campus Green Campus is an initiative taken by the institute to strengthen our philosophy “We believe in creating sensitive and socially conscious architects who can contribute in shaping our built environment”. 

A Clean & a Green Campus is a place where environmental friendly practices and education combine to promote sustainability in the campus. It provides opportunities for students to study campus and local environmental problems, conduct environmental audits of its practices, reduce campus waste, maximize energy efficiency, and deal with land-use, transportation, and building planning.

This initiative has given us the opportunity to take the lead in redefining the environmental culture and develop new paradigms by creating sustainable solutions towards environment, realization of social responsibilitytowards nature and hence contributing a bit from everyone (students, faculty members and admin staff) in achieving this goal.

Objectives: 

The objective of CCGC is aimed to implement the approach and attitude towards sustainable living by creating a healthy atmospherein and around the campusby creating sense of security, ease of accessibility and sensitizing students about their responsibility towards environment.Increasing biodiversity around the campus, Landscape restoration, storm water management and waste management are also part of this initiative. This will create an awareness amongst the students so they can then think about their surroundings and initiate new ways of environmental consciousness.

There are four heads under this initiative

1. Overall campus planning and design 
2. Waste management strategy
3. Biodiversity
4. Design Interventions.

• Overall Campus Planning and Design 

Our Institute, PVP College of Architecture sits within the valley of Pirangut Ghat,  just 15 mins away from Chandani chowk, Pune. It is located against the backdrop of the green hills along the Kothrud- Mulshi Road. The overall campus planning and design is under the guidance and taken care by Ar.Vikas Bhandari, Mentor, VIT’s PVPCOA, Mr. Jitendra Pitaliya Secretary , V.I.T. , Ar. Prof. Prasanna Desai, Director PVPCOA & Ar. Isha Umrani, Program Coordinator PG Landscape Architecture PVPCOA.The overall campus planning involves Planning & design as per current & future requirements,accommodating space for services & Strategic Planning.

Sense of Security & Easy Accessibility: It is necessary to ensure that safe and sustainable transport system design is accessible as the college lies in outskirts of Pune City. Students are encouraged to opt for transport services made available for safety reasons. This also ensures reduced carbon footprint in the campus. Both the admin staff, faculty members and students avail this facility.

Biodiversity

Objective: Creating a biodiversity hotspots within the campus by adopting an appropriate restoration & landscape management policies, increase soil moisture & planning of plantation policy to create a habitat that is indigenous to the place. This is guided by Ar. Isha Umrani & Ar. Ketaki Randive along with Green Squad (Students Team).

This is achieved by one of the activities carried out every year on 12th of July on the occasion of Chairman VIT , Adv. Abhay Chajjed’s Birthday. Plantation drive is conducted where Mr. Chajjed himself inaugurates the function by planting a tree/ sapling chosen, followed by plantation drive by students, who are divided in group house wise. Students are provided with all the planting material needed. The areas where the plantation drive has to be conducted is pre-decided. The Saplings/ tree planted are native to Pune & Mulshi region. This helps us increase soil fertility as well as increase the biodiversity in the campus. This activity in future will be followed by thebiodiversity assessment of surroundings, where documenting existing flora & fauna around the campus will be taken care off. There shall be hands-on experience for students which will allow them to learn basics of horticultural practices and also help understand maintenance regime.Following this practice will eventually restore the landscape in the campus as there will be increase in soil moisture&biomass. Invasive species will be removed and replaced by native species eventually. The slopes can be restored by adding geotextile membrane forslope stabilization. Area shall be protected from forest fire &grazing. Also trenching shall be done for Rain Water Harvesting. As part of tree Plantation drive for academic year 2019-20,Retaining wall along canteen extension, Location along Art Court, Retaining wall behind the last step of the amphitheater was considered as allotted areas for plantation.The climber – “Vernoniaelliptica” (Curtain creeper / pardavel) was planted at all three locations.

• Design Interventions 

Objective: Creating a conductive & integrated atmosphere that would facilitate interaction amongst the students & engagement with the surroundings by design interventions.

Design intervention is guided by Ar. Prof Prasanna Desai, Ar. Isha Umrani , Ar. Vaidehi Sadwilkar and green squad (Students Team)Interventions such as creating outdoor spaces as extensions of certain crucial indoor area which would create opportunities for incidental open spaces. This will help in visual and psychological relief from work stress. These interventions will also create continuous movement across the site without the need to access the building.

The design interventions shall be at

1. Arrival court (Vivekananda Court)  arrival at upper & lower levels.
2. Indoor and outdoor connections such as canteen extension to Amphitheatre, Staircase to Amphitheatre between level 1& 2; Amphitheatre to Art court, Amphitheatre to upper Arrival road; upper arrival plaza to third floor by bridge. 
3. Extension areas such as canteen, art court as 1st year studio extension, Temple court as library extension and Landscape court as PG LA studio extension.
4. Exterior spaces such as compound wall; multipurpose areas for students’ activities, west façade treatment.

Waste Management Strategy

Waste is a by-product of humanactivities, and can be divided into severalcategories, such as hazardous waste,paper waste, solid waste, Thermocolwaste, E Waste, Wet waste etc. Every kind of wastethat is produced has the potential to haveeffects on both the environment andhuman health. Waste management is about being more efficient. Waste Management strategy is guided  byArIshaUmrani&Ar Ketaki Randivealong with Students Team.

Objective: Create awareness for inculcating appropriate approaches & attitudes for living for individual benefits as well as with a large goal of saving the environment from further degradation. This includes categorically segregating waste at its source, create awareness amongst the students, faculty members, admin staff, and orientthe support staff for its implementation. Waste management strategy also focuses on minimizing the waste generated along with the policy of 5 R’s ,i.e. Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, and Recycle.

Strategy Planning for waste Management at PVPCOA, involves all the concerned people (those who throw, collect, sort, carry, recycle, reuse & dispose waste) in a dialogue & ensure smooth functioning. It incorporates at Source Collection, Centralized collection, Sorting, Recycling, Responsible disposal of waste produced by the support staff hence it is necessary to orient them.We also believe in Campaign for Responsible Participation with the help of awareness posters, Posters for rules and Incentives for good practices to be encouraged. This practice is promoted by an activity of campus cleaning every year on 14th of August. Students are divided in the groups house-wise and the area identified in the campus either indoor or outdoor is cleaned. This bags students the house points as well.

Approaches & Attitudes towards living:

• Studios, Staff Room, 1st ,2nd 3rdFloor: Students are encouraged to minimize the paper waste they generate in the studio, reuse of one side blank papers, optimum use of stationery to avoid wastage is encouraged. Separate bins are provided in the studios to collect the throw away trash. Each floor, staff room is equipped with 2 large bins to collect dry and wet waste.  Admin staff has a smaller bin provided for dry waste collection.

• Cleanliness and hygiene in washrooms: Timely cleaning of the washroom is carried by the support staff. Incinerators have been installed in female toilet for sanitary waste.

• Canteen: Healthy eating is promoted in the canteen. The policy made discourages the use of one time plastic products. Like use and throw type of dishes / glasses to be used for any food arrangements made.For beverages, steel glasses or steel cups are provided. For serving food, use of steel plates is implemented.Provision of crates to collect used plates which are reused after washing have been made and students are encouraged to inculcate good habits for smooth functioning of waste segregation by providing separate bins for dry waste & wet waste collection. The Kitchen wet waste is collected separately.

• Outdoors: The leaf litter is gathered and composted in compost pits made in the campus.