Vikram Khanna, COO

Glass is emerging as one of the most effective building materials

Vikram Khanna, COO – Consumer Glass, COO – Architectural Institutional Business CIO & CMO – AIS, is a man of many facets. In his time at AIS he has made admirable use of his considerable acumen to enhance and further embellish the company’s profile and standing in the market. Asahi India Glass Ltd. (AIS) is India’s leading integrated glass solutions company and a dominant player both in the automotive and architectural glass segments. It commands over 70% market share in the Indian passenger car glass market. Established in 1984, AIS’ footprint today spans the entire spectrum of the automotive and architectural glass value chains. AIS provides end to end solutions right from manufacturing of glass, processing, fabrication and installation services. “We cater to customers in domestic and international markets. It is a sand-to-solutions organization offering varied types of glass products & services for institutional buyers as well as retail customer, says Mr Khanna. Excerpts from the interview:

Tell us something about your product range. How resourceful are they to meet the aesthetic needs of architects and builders?

Gone are the days when glass, used primarily in interiors, used to be a choice made by intuition. Today glass has started assuming a major role in the modern day buildings not only adding to its aesthetic value but also enhancing the performance of the building in terms of energy efficiency, safety, sound insulation and a lot more. Various analytical & scientific approaches have been developed in glass selection, which makes its choice as a glazing material, not only enriching but also beneficial.

The major factors that one needs to consider before deciding on the type of glass are:

• Aesthetics: It is a combination of the product, location, design and architectural intent
• Energy Efficiency & Daylight(which includes Visual Light Transmission, Internal Reflection, External Reflection, Solar  Factor, Shading co-efficient as well as u-value)
• Climate Analysis
• Optimum Orientation of Building
• Shadow Analysis
• Daylight Analysis
• Strength, Safety & Sound Insulation &
• Pricing

How much has the demand grown in recent years?

Grand View Research had published a report in the past on Global Flat Glass Market and had predicted that the global market size would reach $124.14 billion by 2022 from $71.98 billion few years back, registering a CAGR of 7.1% from 2015 to 2022. Accordingly, this added to the increased need for high performance advanced flat glass which is now driving the market.

Considering the rising construction projects, in what way do you plan to expand your business?

To meet the increasing demand, we have 2 furnaces in Roorkee and Taloja which are running on full capacity. Because of the rise in demand, we are planning to have a 3^rd float plant in future. We have invested early in our consumer-facing businesses, and now those businesses have solid foundation and that is where we see massive expansion happening, both in auto and architectural side. For eg. AIS Windows which was into UPVC earlier and was a just north centric business, is now expanded its range to include aluminium and is exploring an all India market.

What are your future plans for your company?

The focus in the future will continue to be on innovation and efficiency which will enable AIS to get the most out of market opportunities in the industry, especially the automotive and architectural glass segment. The company will further continue to boost their value proposition with their service excellence to enhance the customer experience. As AIS  is empowered by our leadership strength, e focus on driving greater value for all of their stakeholders.

Your views on the concept of Green Buildings?

The on going shift towards Green Buildings shall only further push demand for high performance glass, opening up a huge opportunity for expansion in the architectural segment. Faced with increasing environmental degradation, eco-friendly living is the new mantra. Naturally, then, the living and work places are also transforming to reflect the green revolution. And in this transformation, glass is emerging as one of the most effective building materials.

The dream of a ‘Nearly-Zero Energy’ building has, for decades, lured architects and builders around the world into innovating new technologies and building materials to create smart and sustainable infrastructure. With this dream fast turning into a reality, green buildings are actually becoming a norm globally, through extensive use of innovative usage of glass in buildings that reduces the air-conditioning load and the need for artificial lighting, and thus minimise energy consumption in the building. The additional costs incurred in making green buildings are more than compensated by the reduced operational costs, compared to conventional buildings.

Do you think implementing Green Concepts is expensive? How does the cost compare with conventional ways of construction?

AIS has taken the lead in delivering green solutions for an eco-friendly future, with innovations in glass processing technology to develop both single-glazed and double-glazed products with the best ‘GREEN’ parameters. The result is greater choice for developers and architects, with the ability to explore new building solutions that enhance the aesthetics, energy efficiency and economics of commercial and residential spaces. Based on climatic study and optimum orientation, AIS works on a 4G approach and provides shading and daylight analysis, whole building simulation, wind load analysis and acoustics analysis. It then generates a comparative analysis (with cost-benefit mapping) to make recommendations that are best suited for the customer.

Taking complete ownership across the value chain, with an array of services such as new product development, float manufacturing, soft coat manufacturing, glass processing, customer servicing, R&D market study and quality assurance, AIS is able to ensure substantial savings in glazing and total construction costs. With its green solutions, AIS is continuously pioneering innovations in glass processing technology to develop products that feature the best ‘GREEN’ parameters

What challenges did you face while handling your projects?

The most prevailing challenge which exists in the glass industry is that glass is a low involvement product, hence creating brand awareness in the minds of consumers is extremely difficult. However, we constantly take efforts to turn this perception of consumers to bring in more attention and increase their involvement in the purchase of glass for homes and commercial spaces. This also involves purchase of automotive glass by consumers in the aftermarket.

This can be achieved by educating the customers about the myriad of possibilities that glass can offer, as it is used for various solutions today – safety & security, acoustic, privacy, apart from just aesthetic solutions.

To do this, one has to adopt effective communication strategies to send out communications to its target group. In today’s evolved day and age, digital media plays an important role. It is the most effective medium to reach out to your TG. AIS has undertaken various digital initiatives like introducing VR apps, we are also coming up with an AI app. We are active on social media to keep our followers engaged and keep abreast with all our new products and solutions.

There is increasing interest in green buildings? What are the greatest advantages and according to you how practical are they?

Glass has a list of inherent benefits as a building material, some of which are

• The product is 100% recyclable
• The source of making glass is Silica sand, which is available in abundance, avoiding the risk of resource depletion
• It can offer a structural strength that is comparable with a brick wall coupled with very good sound insulation & Fire rating
• The product has the unique property of letting in natural light which is so essential for enhancing the living conditions inside the building. Studies have suggested that more natural daylight in hospitals have actually expedited the recovery time in patients
•  Because of the less space it occupies, it gives more manoeuvrable space inside the building & also brings down the dead load weight of the building marginally
• The embodied energy of glass is much lower when compared with Aluminium, cement or paint. This is made possible because of improvement in manufacturing techniques and also of the long life span that glass offers, once it is installed in a building

Which are the major green-building projects undertaken by your company in India?

We have recently done few iconic projects in India namely, DLF Cyber Park (Gurgaon), Lodha Trump Tower (Mumbai), ITC Green Center (Bangalore), Delhi Police Head Quarters (New Delhi). We are also doing Lodha World View – which is one of the most premium residential projects in India. For DLF Cyberpark we developed a completely unique product as per the client’s brief and requirement – low e glass with high external reflection (~40%). We named this product as ‘Exceed Platina series’ under the brand name AIS Ecosense. For Trump Tower too, we developed a new product under our Solar Control range ‘Enhance Gold’, as the requirement was of glass in gold shade.

How much is the benefit from the green building?

When the energy-efficient glass is used properly, it helps lower the total energy consumption by 8-10% & hence the accrued benefits of using these glasses keep growing over the years. Furthermore, it is not just the recurring savings but also the reduction in the capex because of the lower energy loads required for air conditioning of the building. Typically the heat gained/lost through Glazing in a normal building in India is anywhere between 40~50% and using the right type of glass can bring down the energy consumption by 30~40% (only Glazing). The incremental cost of the high-performance glazing can be recovered in a time span of 3~4 years.