Page 58 - Green Builder Magazine Nov-Dec 2017 Issue

www.greenbuildermedia.com/building-science-central

SMART CITIES

Sharing Smart Knowledge

There’s a lot that India and the U.S. can learn from each other—if we take time to teach it.

project. The Chief Minister of the State of Andhra Pradesh helped
This is the third in a series of articles about the increasing interest in—and identify the need for Smart Villages (connected to Smart Cities) and
necessity for—smart homes, villages, cities and communities globally, is helping to show how this is important in his state. Seventy percent
and how they relate to green building in the U.S. of the citizens live in villages. But lack of sufficient education and
jobs are two main reasons people leave them. Cities and villages rely
BY TERRY BEAUBOIS on each other: If the villages collapse, so do the cities, and vice versa.
Continuing government agencies’ important role in encouraging
SMART COMMUNITIES UPDATE:
and allowing advancement in the building industry includes hosting
INTERNATIONAL AND IN THE U.S. sites on the dashboard. These sites help identify companies, product
INCE MY LAST ARTICLE, I traveled to India for another manufacturers, material suppliers and other professionals, so that
Smart Villages Conference reflecting the progress made villages and cities can easily find this information. All of these
to date in the state of Andhra Pradesh, followed by a visit activities, when people “opt-in,” can be seen by each villager, not just
to an EcoSmart Community that has started construction, the government agencies. India has created secure identifiers of each of
Sjust east of Austin, Texas. its 1.3 billion citizens, and it is working out how to protect privacy and
Often, I find people in the United States thinking, “oh, poor India,” high security nationwide. Security and privacy are the top concerns
because much of the news here pertaining to events over there focuses of individuals and organizations in smart community management.
on disasters, floods or train accidents. It’s understandable that we get that The interconnectedness of villagers, and then between villages,
impression. But my last stay in India was full of reports of hurricanes
in Houston, Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the
earthquake in Mexico. Some people in India might have been thinking,
“poor U.S. and Mexico.” It is my hope that through common interests in
building smart communities, we can improve international relations and
share more best practices in improving our communities, worldwide.
In India, the state of Andhra Pradesh is a leader in “internet dashboards”
that connect the government with cities and in-progress villages. In fact,
Andhra Pradesh is working on a Blockchain Institute that may work with
more Southeast Asia regions and countries, not just Andhra Pradesh and
India. Here’s how this and other developing technologies can be applied
to the building industry in India and in the U.S.

THE VILLAGE-CITY CO-RELATIONSHIP
One of the most significant factors in this year’s recent Smart Villages
conference—led by the University of California at Berkeley’s HAAS
School of Business and held at K L University near Vijayawada,
Andhra Pradesh, India—was the increased size, scope and
participation in the Smart Villages project. It is expanding from
one village to more than 400. Having participated on this project
since December 2015 and now making my fourth trip to India with CREDIT: HEATHER COWPER/FLICKR
this team, I’m pleased to see this. With the UC Berkeley project up
and running—and somewhat self-sustaining—we will expand the
efforts even further.
A key to any undertaking, in any location, in any country, is Changes ahead. Regions such as Andhra Pradesh in India will see
successful engagement with political, business and academic a major shift in how villages and cities communicate, and how
companies conduct business, when the Smart Villages program
communities. This has been the case with the Smart Villages India expands.

56 GREEN BUILDER November/December 2017 www.greenbuildermedia.com

56-57 GB 1117 Smart Cities.indd 56 11/17/17 11:34 AM