From Airtravel to Fairtravel

Why & How Individuals and Organisations, Should & Can Rethink Travel Choices for a Sustainable World.

“Heal the world

Make it a better place 

For you and for me and the entire human race, 

There are people dying 

If you care enough for the living, 

Make it a better place for you and for me”

Michael Jackson’s ‘Heal the World’ is a reminder for us that as humans we have the ability and opportunity to heal just as often as we cause socio-ecological wounds knowingly or unknowingly.Something to remember while reading this article and considering your organisational and/or individual approach to travel.

Our transport systems and socio-ecological injustice

Our transport systems play a major role in shaping the overall condition of the planet we inhabit : Coasts are being reclaimed to make way for coastal roads directly jeopardizing the lives of marine organisms and fisher folk. Other life supporting ecosystems such as mangroves are being choked to make space for airports and its accompanying infrastructure.  Forests and farmlands are being destroyed for high-speed intercity travel. In the everyday world the comfort of smoke-emitting vehicles is prioritized over cyclists, pedestrians and other living beings, too. Vehicles and the infrastructure they necessitate, no matter where they are based, contribute to carbon pollution and impact the lives of the vulnerable, the most! How do we know who is vulnerable? Well, they are the people and living beings whose voices you’ll barely hear on the news and won’t hear directly on social media sites at all. These are the voices smothered by concerns over GDP and social status. Reflect on this a bit and you’ll know who we are talking about. 

Transportation is therefore one of the many factors contributing to carbon pollution and the climate crisis it catalyzes. For instance, people and other beings have to battle floods, droughts and climate crisis induced calamities. There have also been reports of people losing lives due to health ailments propagated by pollution, too. You might be wondering what you can do about this.  This article shares a humongously impactful but not yet widely popularised way to contribute to a sustainable and just world- by rethinking our priorities and our travel choices.  

We are here to convey the need to minimize and as far as possible replace  a seemingly  clean and convenient, yet monstrous and deeply unjust mode of travel – air travel. To let you know that this vital yet seemingly impossible proposition is in fact a possibility, we’ll also share our experience of working towards this within our own organisation and with WIPRO Ltd. (IT company) .

Why reconsider air travel?

The airline industry cleans up its appearance pretty well but only after smothering life giving ecosystems and causing much carbon pollution. Beginning at the airplane and airport construction and continuing with fuel extraction and other processes, air travel is far from clean. Additionally, the seemingly ‘clean’ interiors of airplanes and airports, are breeding grounds for social inequity. They constantly endanger the health of both social and ecological systems. To support this here is some data compiled by our collaborating network to counter aviation, StayGrounded.

Air travel  is accessible unequally across the globe :

This mode of travel that is accessible to only the privileged few is in fact one of the largest climate crisis perpetrators :

One of the many reasons the total climate impact of aviation is not recognised is because of a lack of focus on the non-carbon dioxide emissions by the sector :

You might wonder, ‘Why not transition to e-fuels and other existing alternatives?’ However, while climate mitigating alternatives like biodiesel and solar powered or electric aircrafts might seem promising, they are for the time being at least ‘deficient’. Solar PVs have a negligible impact, biodiesel availability is insufficient to meet the present let alone future demand (not to mention its own climate impacts) and the expected timeline for electric aircraft in regular commercial operations is not earlier than the end of the 2030s. For details of these critiques refer to the ‘Airline industry’s response’ section of this article. So if the choice of fuel or power source for air travel is not enough, what will get us closer to a sustainable travel? 

Beginning to step away from air travel: The cBalance and Wipro experience

The first step to reducing air travel is to re-think about the criteria we use to evaluate it. You may think it is a more hygienic, fast and comfortable means of transport. You may also see its necessity for in-person business meetings. Why would we sacrifice such a convenient, comfortable and efficient mode of travel? This is where considering the sociological and ecological injustices and looking at the present day realities of our time, inclusive of the covid-19 pandemic and other natural and human-induced disasters, has changed the stakes. If sacrificing comfort is our concern, can we sacrifice the lives of our fellow humans and other non living beings just for comfort? If hygiene is our concern, can we ignore the dumping of toxic GHG gases in the air, impacting the health of the present and future generations of humans and other beings? If travel time is our concern, do we really need to travel that much? (Hasn’t the covid- 19 situation revealed that virtual meetings get much of the job done.) Or can we make the time spent travelling something that adds to our lives, something that we can be present to, if not look forward to? 

Since 2015 we have been supporting Wipro Ltd. in studying their organisation’s flying patterns and suggesting ways to reduce carbon pollution from air travel. Wipro has managed a 15-20% reduction of climate impact from air travel, between 2015 and 2020. This reduction has been gradual and has involved them integrating the following suggestions in their organisations travel policies:

1. Choosing non-stop flights over multi-stop flights, as far as possible.
2. Choosing virtual meetings over in-person ones whenever possible.
3. Choosing airlines having less carbon footprint (Best-in-class airlines)
4. Choosing economy class over business class travel
5. Transitioning to bus/train travel, as far as possible.

As is evident from these measures, Wipro attempts not only to reduce the impact of their flying but also to reduce flying itself. This is based on the knowledge that over a 1,000 km journey, an air traveler emits 285 kgs of CO2 kilometer while a railway passenger in even an AC executive-class compartment emits 30 kgs while in a comfortable AC bus the same passenger emits 70 kgs (Ref 1). Wipros policy includes that journeys in India that are less than 12 hours long need to be by train, unless employees are supposed to be back in the office on the next day. At cBalance we ourselves take this measure a step further. Everyone from the most-experienced to the youngest team member travels by rail for domestic travel irrespective of the number of hours of travel. However, this policy is not implemented without consideration. If someone is unwell or unable to sit for long hours or if there is an emergency and air travel is unavoidable we do consider it. Such a progressive policy may take some work to be implemented in organisations such that it is applied appropriately. It may require challenging conversations around what is a ‘need’ and what is a ‘want’. It may require challenging conversations around positions of power and economics. However, it is precisely because of the disproportionate impact and injustice that those with privilege have caused and continue to cause that this is the direction in which we must move and that the privileged must make the start. For example, it will be of little use if policies such as Wipro’s are not applicable to employees across all grades. Fortunately, Wipro is in the process of addressing such loopholes. 

Similarly, while smaller organisations like ours have long chosen virtual meetings with overseas partners and other sustainable choices, events in recent years are necessitating that even larger companies reconsider their choice to fly. The Stay Grounded network presently comprises 160 members across the globe who are doing the same. And there are of course organisations beyond the network acting in the same direction to minimize socio-ecological injustices of the air travel industry. There are even some governments making efforts to minimize air travel too.

Moving into ‘Fair Travel’  

‘An average medium-haul domestic return flight from Bangalore to  Mumbai emits climate pollution (i.e. greenhouse gasses) that neutralizes the benefit of 100 trees – essentially, cut down forever. This can be seen as personally chopping down 1 tree at the end of the return flight, each time we fly’ (ref 2)

Since travel is a major component of IT and Finance/BPO service companies, the Fair Travel program is focused on working with pioneering IT and BPO/finance companies in India through a participatory method called ‘Carbon Reduction Action Groups’ (CRAGs). When successfully employed in global enterprises CRAGs will enable a mixed group of employees to set their own carbon footprint reduction targets, including climate impacts from business-related air travel. These groups will then be able to work toward co-creating their roadmap to achieve these reduction targets. As with Wipro, cBalance’s FairTravel program will provide the necessary training and support to achieve these. FairTravel will also provide carbon footprinting and other decision support, along with communications support for Corporate Sustainability teams to amplify these pioneering efforts. For more details on this program please visit this link. 

For many of us, some of our fondest memories include travelling and some of our greatest achievements include working together to address challenges. Fair Travel is an opportunity to ensure that our collective journey is made up of responsible choices and that we continue to have fond travel memories and satisfying work. We need to begin now. Let’s heal the world and make it a better place for you and for me and the entire human (and non-human) race!

References:

1. Based on independently verified India-specific emissions factors developed by cBalance and audited by Western State Colorado University (WSCU)
2. http://cbalance.in/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/CB_Wipro_AviationEF_CaseStudy_v5.pdf

Editors: Neesha Noronha, Namratha Sastry, Vivek Gilani

Responsibility Begins Here: Sustainability in Architecture and Engineering Education

‘Look beyond the electrical switch, there’s a person mining coal that will power the space you design’- A heart that empathizes with miners and a mind that considers them while designing can ensure we work to minimize the injustices our built spaces currently create. Isn’t this what our architecture and engineering education should do? Nurture responsible architects and engineers to think critically, to care and to serve not just themselves or a tiny segment, but the society, and the world?

The current education system in India mostly reflects otherwise. Information is thrust onto students instead of encouraging them to think critically and creatively. Their hearts and eyes are closed to social and ecological injustices and so the buildings and spaces built often do more harm than good. It is no longer good enough to claim ignorance. There is enough evidence that things need to change, and now. And where else to begin than at the beginning? With architecture and engineering education. Even if we don’t have all the answers, we will more likely create possible ones if we grapple with the questions rather than ignoring them, pretending they don’t exist or wishing them away.

At this juncture in history the time is right for a widespread engagement with creating a just world.  The Fair Conditioning ACIP program is one such hopeful pathway for architecture and engineering educators to ensure that they do justice to their position; both as creators of just homes and spaces and as nurturers and leaders of our future professionals.

The Injustices of Air Conditioning

The Fair Conditioning ACIP program emerged from a recognition of the injustices of air conditioning. Simply put,  India’s building sector is expected to augment by 4 to 5 times its current size by 2030 and given  prevalent building practices, rising temperatures and increasing purchasing capacity of people inhabiting urban areas, the magnitude of window and split ACs in operation in India will grow to 225 million in 2035. Not only will ACs consume huge amounts of electricity but they will also emit what are called ‘super greenhouse gases’ – 2000 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. In addition, since a typical split-unit AC in India consumes the energy required to run 24 ceiling fans, essentially AC users deprive about 25-fold the number of persons of power to operate fans during India’s harsh summers. Beyond air-conditioning the injustices caused through increasing built space know no bounds. Inequitable energy access, inequitable water and other natural resource use, carbon pollution, health impacts, read a little more and the scope of these injustices and their consequences come crashing down on us. But we’ve known of these injustices in building design and construction for years. India has already committed to bring about a 33-35% reduction in its greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2030 at the United Nation’s Conference of Parties in Paris (COP21, 2015) and signed the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol in 2016 where we have agreed to phase out conventional refrigerants (HFCs). And there are people and institutions that have been incorporating sustainable cooling practices and technologies that are equally well known. Why then are they not being incorporated in all buildings?

The Educational Lacuna

Our research on academic curricula in India’s top 55 architecture colleges indicated that less than 25% offer courses that embed energy efficiency or sustainable design knowledge to some degree into the student’s critical thinking and design skill set. Amongst these, only 3 or 4 out of 72 courses over the course of a bachelor’s degree require a student to think and work on the environmental  impact of their designs. Therefore, only 5% of India’s architecture colleges curricula is related to the environmental impact of buildings. We estimate that every year, India’s 423 architecture colleges graduate 17,000 students with deficient skills. Until now, most of the people designing buildings have graduated from this system. This means that in spite of having an Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC), if it were to be enforced by law across all Indian states today, the workforce in place would be unable to implement it. The necessity of the hour, then, is making sustainability an inextricable aspect of architecture curricula. Just as fire safety is a non-negotiable, sustainable principles and technology should be incorporated into building design by default.

Sustainability Begins at the Beginning: The Academic Curricula Integration Program (ACIP)

With the aim of incorporating aspects of sustainable design in architecture curricula, in September 2017 the Indian Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and Council-of-Architecture (CoA) signed an MOU to integrate aspects of building physics and energy efficiency in some technical courses. In September 2018 a guidebook was published by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF): “A Guide For Integration Of Topics Related To HCFC Phase Out And Energy Efficiency In Architectural Curriculum”. Such efforts are meaningful, yet miniscule to meet the need for sustainable buildings in the coming years. Our Academic Curricula Integration Program (ACIP) has evolved over the past 8 years to contain multiple elements that facilitate the development of the culture and discourse of sustainability as well as its technologies, techniques and practices into architecture and engineering curricula.

The ACIP begins with a multi day capacity building workshop for teachers of a participating college. It includes a refresher of essential technical skills related to topics like heat transfer, psychrometry, adaptive thermal comfort, passive cooling design strategies, climate analysis, and solar geometry and is followed by training modules related to science and engineering principles of sustainable cooling technologies such as structure cooling, solar vapor absorption systems, and natural refrigerants. The workshop adopts a learning-centric approach where professors experience ‘how their students can learn’ as opposed to ‘how they can teach students’. Sensitization techniques, technical concepts, teaching tools and pedagogy techniques are explored through the workshops. Further, our team supports professors towards integrating sustainable concepts seamlessly in their lesson plans during the workshop.

Exploring psychometry(a) and solar geometry(b) concepts. 

While professors express enthusiasm and motivation to facilitate enriching learning experiences for their students, they also encounter challenges such as difficulty in mobilizing students to engage with new concepts and learning techniques, lack of effort or resistance from colleagues or management and difficulties in completing the lesson plan as scheduled among other barriers. With the support of behavioural change concepts such as biases, professors are encouraged to reflect and share their own approaches to these challenges. Through this process professors often report renewed enthusiasm, courage and insight to overcome them, both learning from the examples of previously participating colleges and contributing to the ongoing development of the collective field.

Beyond the initial workshop, colleges choose a pilot semester in which to integrate sustainability into the curriculum and these additional elements of ACIP enhance what began in the workshop. Engagement with the teacher cohort includes curricula integration handholding, monitoring, and troubleshooting during the pilot semester. Within this timeframe, horizontal interlinkages between sub-streams of humanities, theory, technical and design, as well as vertical integration across semesters/years are established. Our continued engagement with academia has in fact led to the inclusion of this crucial support element along with the development of pedagogy manuals, teaching aids and other knowledge materials. Professors use the Fair Conditioning ‘Sustainable Pedagogy Manual’ and a ‘DIY Physical Teaching Aid Construction Manual’ as additional resources. A ‘starter kit’ of physical teaching aids is also made optionally available at a subsidized rate to the participating colleges. (Please visit fairconditioning.org for selected resources. All resources developed under Fair Conditioning are part of the knowledge commons.)

  Solar geometry teaching aid kit.

All the activities, tools (including softwares) and materials offered to professors have been designed keeping in mind the continuously evolving nature of knowledge around sustainability and also to encourage curriculum development that is inclusive and rooted in dialogue and co-creation. Mid and end semester roundtables  not only allow for course correction and knowledge sharing among teachers, students and management but also provide the opportunities to amplify the program objectives of making sustainability the shared responsibility and lived practice of all. The board of studies (BOS) roundtable takes an important first step towards this by including neighbouring colleges and local board of studies members, architects and other stakeholders (practitioners in the field and other educational institutions). 

Conclusion

In the words of one architecture student, “Architecture is not just an occupation, it is a responsibility”. While we believe this, we also see that it is not a responsibility to be left to the discretion of well-intentioned or extraordinarily talented, committed teachers and practitioners. Often they leave, move, transfer or are transferred. It serves none of us if only a few teachers or architects or engineers or decision makers have the head, heart and hands to make necessary changes, to lead. On the other hand it serves all of us to care about the world beyond ourselves, to engage again and again with the difficult issues no matter our capacity and to share in the responsibility of sustainability and justice. As stewards of the educational climate which is inextricably linked to the fate of our planet, we encourage and support educators to collaborate with each other and join forces to mould not just our students but the future. As Gandhi said, “True education must correspond to the surrounding circumstances or it is not healthy growth”.

Co-Author: Neesha Noronha, Editor: Matouleibi Chingsubam