Bio-climatic homes

Is it getting cold in Bangalore, India or what?

Have you tried the camp fire yet?

Samskruti Builders

Write to us to know more about bio-climatic homes.

Samskruti Hoysala construction update

Construction at Samskruti Hoysala is in full swing and we are on track. Here are some of the latest pictures for you.

Check out more pics from all our projects here: https://picasaweb.google.com/114196345286541706604/HoysalaDec2013

Drop that apple

Organic gardening is a safe way to grow what you want. Be careful while buying vegetables and fruits. You never know what you are eating. 

Here is a beautiful article from http://www.treehugger.com/about the most toxic of fruits & vegetables and what you should be doing.

Dirty Dozen: The 12 to buy organic (in order of pesticide load, apples being the worst offenders).

1. Apples
2. Celery
3. Sweet bell peppers
4. Peaches
5. Strawberries
6. Imported nectarines
7. Grapes
8. Spinach
9. Lettuce
10. Cucumbers
11. Domestic blueberries
12. Potatoes

How do we get out of this?

1. Opt for organic foods whenever possible
2. Have a small organic garden/hydrophonics in your balcony or terrace
3. Grow a community garden

Write to us to know more about how we can set up hrdrophonics in your apartment/villa.

Speak to us to know more: 

     Call 99162 17777 

     Visit: www.samskruti.in
     Follow us on facebook for updates!

Samskruti Builders

Are we causing natural disasters with our actions?

Are we causing natural disasters with our actions? It seems so.
While we don't bother to save what nature provides us in its time, we rush to exploit the resources and choose to make the world a sad place for our kids. Do we have that right?

Some of the world's largest and most deadly recent earthquakes were not natural disasters at all but were caused by human activities such as mining, reservoir construction and oil and gas extraction, scientists say.

A global study of hundreds of quakes by Christian Klose, a consultant geophysicist, identified 92 large earthquakes likely to have been caused by humans.

Klose said that the Earth's crust is littered with geological faults under enormous tensions similar to those in a coiled spring.

When humans pile up vast masses of water or minerals on the surface, or extract them from beneath, the change in the weight of the overlying land can be enough to release that geological tension, causing an earthquake.

"The data specifically shows that human-made mass changes can advance the clock of natural seismic cycles and induce or trigger new earthquakes," said Klose.

According to the research, the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan, China, which had a magnitude of 7.9 and killed 80,000 people, was triggered by the construction of the Zipingu reservoir.

In Britain, the 2007 Folkestone earthquake, which rocked southeast England and measured 4.3, was triggered by the millions of tonnes of shingle piled up to protect Folkestone harbour, 'The Times' reported.

The study said the 2011 earthquake in Lorca, southeast Spain was apparently triggered by water being extracted from underground reservoirs.

Another, with a magnitude of 5.6, hit Newcastle, Australia, in 1989; 13 people died and hundreds were injured. Klose linked this with the amount of coal extracted from nearby mines.

The research is published in the Journal of Seismology.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/humans-may-have-caused-worlds-worst-earthquakes/1207945/

Samskruti Builders

How to reduce dust and noise in your apartments

I agree that mopping, cleaning regularly is a solution, but what else can you do to control noise and dust?

Dust, especially fine dust, causes allergies, breathing problems and other skin related discomforts. It is important to have systems to clean up the dust and prevent it from entering to your homes. The best way is to provide a plant cover and reduce the allergens in the air due to fine dust.

Green enveloping the building also would ensure noise mitigation, protection against the wind. Another great advantage is to control the radiation(either increase or decrease by choice and design).

Moreover it is common knowledge that most of the plants/trees take in Carbondioxide and release Oxygen. 

Write to us to share your views and ideas or to know more.

Speak to us to know more: 

     Call 99162 17777 

     Visit: www.samskruti.in
     Follow us on facebook for updates!

The working triangle in a kitchen?

While most of the designs in the kitchen should be done to accommodate the tastes and work-style of the lady of the house, the working triangle remains the same. 

There should be easy access to the stove, refrigerator and the sink. It would be an added advantage if you have a counter away from the stove, near the refrigerator. 

 At Samskruti Builders, we also have a small planter for growing fresh vegetables too.

Write to us to share your views and ideas or to know more.

Speak to us to know more: 

     Call 99162 17777 

     Visit: www.samskruti.in 
     Follow us on facebook for updates!

Love your family

The most important contribution you can do to your family is being there. Find a home closer to your workplace/school and skip time wasted in travelling. Found this wonderful image from Alison Astair.

At Samskruti Builders, we make sure our locations have good access to transport, schools, hospitals and places of work.

Plates loaded with pesticides

Stop feeding poison to your loved ones. Choose organic terrace gardens, kitchen gardens for healthy pesticide-chemical-free food.

Probably it's time to take a closer look at what's on your platter. Cypermethrin, heptachlor, quinalphos, aldrin, chlorodane, dichlorvas, cypermethrin — these banned pesticides could well be a part of your regular diet. Okras, leafy green cabbages and other vegetables, bananas or oranges and apples that you so relish may be overloaded with some of these harmful pesticides.

A study by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India under the Union agriculture ministry threw up some unpalatable facts. Common food items contain banned pesticides in quantities a thousand times more than the permissible limits. The findings are based on random samples collected from across the country.

From the vegetable basket, brinjal tops the chart with the level of banned pesticide at 860% above legal limits, followed by cauliflower and cabbage. Wheat and rice too had these dangerous chemicals. While the level of aldrin in wheat is 21,890 times more than the permissible level, that of chlorfenvinfos in rice was measured at 1,324% above the allowed limit.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/Plates-loaded-with-pesticides/articleshow/25405174.cms?#write

#samskrutibuilders #organicgarden #thesamskrutiway

At Samskruti Builders, we provide community garden spaces for growing vegetables and fruits and look at sustainable source. Read more here: http://samskrutibuilders.blogspot.in/2013/07/community-garden.html

We also have a community kitchen to allow consumption of these vegetables by the community.

Happy Diwali!

May the divine light of this diwali bring you peace, prosperity, happiness & good health. 

Wish you a noiseless, pollution-less and happy Diwali!

Community Kitchen Caldas - eating inexpensive and healthy meals together!

At Samskruti Builders we believe in community kitchen and community gardening as a source to build, nurture and strengthen the community. Here is the concept explained!

Community Kitchen Caldas - eating inexpensive and healthy meals together!

Inspired by the community food bank concept, Community Kitchen Caldas (CKC) is an extension of the idea but focused around the activity of cooking through a community farm, community kitchen and community canteen, with the benefit of bulk-purchasing and bulk-consumption. The menu and recipe is derived from locals and experts collaboratively to create a healthy menu with local tastes, targeting malnutrition for women and children. The result is a pool of CKC members enjoying inexpensive and healthy meals.

Community Cooperative

CKC operates like a cooperative, with joining members putting in hours for the work involved (farming, cooking, maintenance) in exchange for close to cost price of food that is bought in bulk, farmed on the community garden, and cooked by members on rotating basis. It is a center of community building around the act of cooking.

Health and Malnutrition

The extra component of the CKC is the input of recipes from local residents and health experts, especially for the target of women and children malnutrition. The health or nutrition experts would spend time at first on the field understanding the issues of malnutrition, working with local residents to create recipes and eating habits that could remedy the condition. Such recipes are then shared in an open-source format and cooked in bulk (reduce cost) in the community kitchen. The health or nutrition experts can be on ground initially, but over time the can operate more remotely from Bogota (7-8hrs drive), Medellin (5-6hrs drive) or even overseas with investment of communication equipments.

Growing your own crops + bulk-buying

Urban agriculture in Havana Cuba has tremendous success, the lack of foreign imports becomes an opportunity for local farmers to adopt organic methods of fertilizing soil and using compost. The idea is that with more and more member support, the community garden scale can grow to cushion fluctuating food price and reduce cost, but more importantly, tailor the need for the problem of malnutrition with the right crops together with bulk-buying of food (enabled by food bank).

Entrepreneurship

This could become a scalable model to affect more people, and the local management opportunity becomes a channel to build entrepreneurship through the management of this local cooperative. Logistics, finance, marketing are all essential part of this cooperative to ensure success as a social business.

OpenIdeo Collaboration

During the week of consultation we have updated our base scheme with the following:

Cookbook

Using the combined efforts of health experts and local recipes, the result can be combined into a physical or online cookbook that would be sold to support the operations of the Community Kitchen

Cooking Fuel and Cooking Equipments

Using a centralized setting, the efficiency of better stove and better fuel can be utilized fully to reduce the cost per meal. Biogas is an option where bio-waste from either community toilet or community kitchen itself can be converted into cooking fuel in an anaerobic tank. Low tech and inexpensive improvements such as Rocket Stove could also be used to reduce fuel consumption by maximizing stove efficiency.

Community Chefs

An ideal training ground for community chefs that would have potential national exposure and repeated training with local community and health experts, these could either be family members that are already cooking for their families everyday, or they could be young aspiring chefs from the local regions.

Individual Farming Plots

Small plots could be assigned to families to have ownership of the plots, cultivating a collective culture of farming using shared resources of both tools and knowledge, and also can tailor the crops produced based on needs and preferences and monetary value.  

Community Kitchen Vendors

Vendors could rent stores next to the community kitchen to produce processed healthy food such as fruit juices, yogurt, etc. They could reap the benefit of bulk-buying from the Community Kitchen operation, and also getting all the traffic from CKC members.

Ecosystem of Materials

Bio-wastes from the Community Kitchen and Community Gardens operations could be transformed back into compost / fertilizers / biogas. The centralized grouping of waste allows for efficient upcycling. 

What is organic veg-scaping?

Gardening has a lot of benefits apart from just providing vegetables, fruits and flowers. 

Gardening has been proven as a stress buster. Accessibility to a garden where you can grow and show your children about the food they eat teaches sustainability, respect, knowledge and help children eat more vegetables and is therapeutic too.

Apart from the oxygen, plants provide a rich, aesthetic and luxurious visual comfort and feel that is also natural and healthy 

There would be significant nutritional value from the vegetables as they aren’t stored and are consumed fresh after harvesting. This means you have a lot of free space in your refrigerator and save your time and money from visiting the supermarket 

Gardening and harvesting would encourage you to spend more time with your friends and neighbors which would result in caring and sharing! 

To summarize organic veg-scaping would aid in better oxygen + fragrance + Visual comfort + Ornamental!

Harnessing solar power

One of the most underutilized and underrated solutions to the power crisis is depending on solar power.

At Samskruti, we have solar panels which are used to generate power to:

1. Provide hot water to all taps
2. To purify water

We also anticipate enough solar radiation to accommodate time-sharing of solar power.

Do you utilize solar power in your home?

How do you help create better Indoor Air Quality?

In Indian conditions, at our homes, primary source of pollutants that cause IAQ problem -

1)       Smoking

2)       VOCs from paints

3)       Vehicular pollution that gets trapped in our house

4)       Hair from pets

5)       Dust accumulated on the curtains, furniture, bed

6)       Fungus formation/growth in utility room and bathrooms

7)       Pesticides used for mosquitos, cockroaches

8)       CO from cooking is also a bit of concern

9)       VOCs from aerosols such as air-fresheners and body deodorants

10)   VOCs from household cleaners

At Samskruti Hoysala, we ensure better indoor air quality by the following steps:

1)       Naturally lit, integrated landscaped areas with well ventilated design 

2)       Lower exposure to aerosols, disease causing elements

3)       Lower temperature inside the house due to better ventilation and free flow of air

4)       Reduced exposure to emissions from materials like furniture, walls, paints, flooring, etc. as we choose them carefully

#indoorairquality #buildingsmartcommunities #samskrutibuilders

Write to us to learn more.
info@samskruti.in
+91 99162 17777

https://www.facebook.com/Samskruti.in

Flowers at Indus Valley

It is really a joy to see flowers blooming at our Indus valley project. With good improvement in ground water levels, we see greenery and birds all around.

#samskrutiIndusValley #buildingsmartcommunities #samskrutibuilders

Write to us to learn more.
info@samskruti.in
+91 99162 17777

https://www.facebook.com/Samskruti.in

Smart solutions: Power strip

Ever wished you could avoid the tedious task of pulling out the plug and putting in the new one when changing devices in the kitchen?

At Samskruti Builders you can now use multiple appliances at the same time thanks to the smart power strip. The power strip not just provides an easy way to plug and unplug but also allows you to cut off power easily. How about having one for your living room too?

#samskrutihoysala
#buildingsmartcommunities
#samskrutibuilders

Write to us to learn more.
info@samskruti.in
+91 99162 17777

https://www.facebook.com/Samskruti.in

Let the light in

Do you have enough sunlight coming in to your home? Without proper sunlight, you could end up unhealthy and depending on artificial power.

At Samskruti, we plan, design and build homes that let natural light and air in while avoiding dust and noise.

Write to us to learn more.
info@samskruti.in
+91 99162 17777

Keep the phone away

Technology should be an aid not your primary companion. Most of the times you tend to drift away even when you are close because of technology.

Can we design places to allow more communication, more conversations, move interaction? If you can, why don't we?

Speak to us to see how we integrate plants, open spaces and lighting to create conversations!

‪#‎SamskrutiHoysala‬ ‪#‎SamskrutiMaurya‬‪ #‎buildingsmartcommunities‬

Speak to us to know more: Call 99162 17777 

Visit: www.samskruti.in 

Follow us on facebook for updates!

The joy of communication!

One of the most important things you need to grow old happily is to have the joy of being heard. Story telling, teaching and most of the social events are based on this part of being involved in a healthy conversation. 

Unlike modern times when you are locked in cardboard cabins, bound by glass doors and designations, enslaved by the modern mistaken identity of solitude and privacy where community interaction, sometimes even in a family(sad but true) becomes elusive, Samskruti offers you a way out.

Samskruti Builders we believe that communication is a multi-way process and should be the loved and shared. After all don't we teach a child to speak and talk and enjoy the chatter. What if we provide a place, chance and create situations to ensure you encounter your neighbors, kids, elders and friends on a daily basis in your community without disturbing your privacy?

Viola come to any of our projects and you would find this is a daily routine. Community living is rejuvenated to allow your sense of belonging and rediscover your joy of sharing.

‪#‎SamskrutiHoysala‬ ‪#‎SamskrutiMaurya‬‪ #‎buildingsmartcommunities‬

Speak to us to know more: Call 99162 17777 

Visit: www.samskruti.in 

Follow us on facebook for updates!

Pool time for women!

How often do you hit the pool in your community?
Is the pool private or open?
What do you think the pool should be?

What is the use of a pool if women and elders cannot use it? No wonder most of the pools in various communities are dried up and dead.

At Samskruti Hoysala, we have a pool where women can use and so can elders. With privacy guaranteed, we are looking at more women hitting the pool to relax and exercise than men.

Speak to us to know more: Call 99162 17777 

Visit: www.samskruti.in 

Follow us on facebook for updates!

Community garden

Bangalore is receiving so much rain and we are still waiting to take steps for rain water harvesting. So much water and so little measures to save.

At ‪#‎SamskrutiHoysala‬ we try to conserve all the water and after purification use it for drinking, farming(yes, literally) and a lot more!

Do you have a community garden, farming space in your house? What do you grow?

Speak to us to know more: 

Call +91 99162 17777 

Visit: www.samskruti.in 

Follow us on facebook for updates!

Harvesting rain water

Harvesting rain water solves not just water related problems but also health related problems. It is important to teach children how to use water in a responsible way. At Samskruti properties, we ensure a lot of planning, design and implementation goes into creating water harvesting techniques and actual use of water. Conservation comes next!

Speak to us to know more: Call 99162 17777 Visit: www.samskruti.in Follow us on facebook for updates!

Where is Indus Valley?

Several customers ask this question.

Here is the google location: Click here to open in a new window and the coordinates: 13.255652, 77.936532.

If you want the location map, here it is. You can download it by opening it in a new window.

 

Speak to us to know more: 

  Call 99162 17777 
  Visit: www.samskruti.in
  Follow us on facebook for updates!

Water problems!

DNA: Healthy pre-monsoon trends have indicated that Bangalore will have a good monsoon.

The city is expected to get more rain in the days to come, as part of the pre-monsoon showers before monsoon hits the city. Strong winds, an upper-air cyclonic circulation coupled with a low pressure area in the Arabian Sea, has set the perfect tempo for the monsoon to arrive in the city.

Speaking to dna, an official from the Bangalore meteorological centre said the city has had 89mm of rain so far in the pre-monsoon season and that another 29mm of rain is expected in the coming days.

“Bangalore’s normal pre-monsoon rainfall is expected at 118mm. We have had healthy pre-monsoon season and it has cooled the city sufficiently,” the official said.

The city is expected to receive 110mm of rainfall in May alone.

“This is because, as we approach monsoons, the pre-monsoon activity goes up and then dips. This is a regular phenomenon,” he said.

The Southwest monsoon is expected to be about three days late this year.

“Usually, monsoon hits the Kerala coast on June 1, but this year, the meteorology department has declared that it will arrive on June 3. All climatic conditions are healthy and monsoon should hit the city by June 7,” he said.

The temperature is also expected to go up by two degrees according to the department officials. “By the end of the month, we are expecting the temperatures to go up to 36° C,” he said.

Things are looking better on the water front, as the scenario  might improve in the coming days. Rain is expected to be normal in the catchment areas of the Cauvery, which supplies water to the city.

Normally, from March 1 to May 15, Mandya, where Krishnaraja Sagar is located, is expected to receive 99mm of rain, but it has already received 101mm.

In Kodagu, which is the upstream area for Cauvery river, there has been near-normal rainfall, and although the average pre-monsoon rain in this catchment area is 171mm and has received just 141mm so far, the met officials are confident of more rain in the coming days.

Top five plants everyone must have at home

The 5 plants That will improve your home air.

1. Areca palm: Removes CO2 and converts it into oxygen during the day
2. Lucky Bamboo: To attract health, happiness, love and abundance
3. Christmas Cactus: Gives off oxygen at night while most plants produce oxygen during the day, it is perfect for your bedroom, family room, or other spots that get a lot of evening action
4. Golden pothos or Devil's ivy: Removes formaldehyde & other chemicals from air
5. Snake plant or mother-in-law's tongue: Converts CO2 into oxygen at night

Using these plants has shown significant oxygen level improvements in real world situations. Having these plants in your home can increase blood oxygen levels by 1% in 10 hours. They can reduce headaches, eye irritation, asthma and other respiratory problems.

Samskruti Hoysala Balcony

Here is a view of how a balcony in Samskruti Hoysala would look like!

Speak to us to know more: 99162 17777 or visit us here: www.samskruti.in Follow us on facebook for updates!

Reduce, recycle, reuse, dispose responsibly

Pollution might not hit you right now. Not just yet. Do not ignore as your children might not be just as lucky to dodge.

At Samskruti, we design homes with a futuristic outlook. This means you would depend more on natural resources and less on artificial, temporary solutions. By reducing the carbon footprint, recycling most of the water, waste and other resources, we look forward to building a smarter, safer tomorrow. A tomorrow where your children will still be able to watch and enjoy the beauty of nature you have today.

Chris Jordan has a shocking video here and I am just posting a small bit.

Speak to us to know more: 99162 17777 or visit us here: www.samskruti.in

What is a Green Building?

A green building is one which uses less water, optimizes energy, conserves natural resources, generates less waste and provides healthier spaces for occupants, as compared to a conventional building. A building is assessed based on its predicted performance over its entire lifecycle — inception through operation. The stages identified for evaluation are:

• Pre-construction: Intra- and inter-site issues like proximity to public transport, type of soil, kind of land, location, flora and fauna before construction activity starts, natural landscape and features 
• Planning and construction: Issues of resource conservation and reduction in resource demand, resource utilization efficiency and recovery, reuse, and provisions for occupant health and wellbeing 
• Prime resources considered are land, water, energy, air and green cover. Operation and maintenance: Of building systems and processes, monitoring and recording of energy consumption, occupants’ health and well-being and issues that affect the global and local environment.