As we celebrated the 69th year of independence, did you give a thought to the independence of your most-prized possession, your home? Is it possible for your home not to be so dependent on the grid – for electricity, water and the like? The good news is that you can take small steps to make your home independent in the true sense of the word.
Basic funda
If you are looking to buy a home, consider a project that aims to build a community which is independent in terms of natural resources. The place must attempt to bring about a sense of belonging among the residents towards the welfare of the community. Given the alarming rate of global warming, floods and droughts have become regular phenomena. The need of the hour is to build homes and infrastructure that can mitigate the damages caused by such natural disasters. Similarly, water and electricity are precious resources that need to be used intelligently. An environmentally-friendly home is one where a hygienic waste management system does not get jeopardised by an inefficient city waste management network, and air conditioners work at one-third the energy used by regular systems, These are houses that are well-ventilated; have floors that are friendly for residents suffering from rheumatoids and arthritis; their lush landscaping adding to the neighbourhood greenery and enhancing the quality of air, while reducing carbon dioxide in the air.
Think long-term
As a home buyer, you have every right to ask your builder to commit to the number and kind of treatment systems employed in the project and to what extent it will affect your demand for water supply. Venkat Chalasani, CEO, Samskruti Builders, agrees that it’s a good idea to discuss waste management and rainwater harvesting options. “Our projects not only segregate the waste, but also use the methane gas produced while composting the green waste. Black and grey water is purified and reused for flushing and gardening. Additionally, in all our projects, we create enough capacity for storage tanks to collect the graded rainwater.
Purified, potable rainwater is supplied to the community. These measures ensure all our communities are 70-100 per cent self-sustainable in terms of water,” he says.
Decentralised waste management is where the wet waste is handled at the individual home level through pits or smart bins and the recyclable waste is directed to the appropriate agency. It also makes perfect sense to think of energy design installations that reduce the use of power, while not compromising on comfort and convenience. This will mean the use of solar energy systems. It will mean the use of biomass gasification to convert waste into electricity.
Basic funda
If you are looking to buy a home, consider a project that aims to build a community which is independent in terms of natural resources. The place must attempt to bring about a sense of belonging among the residents towards the welfare of the community. Given the alarming rate of global warming, floods and droughts have become regular phenomena. The need of the hour is to build homes and infrastructure that can mitigate the damages caused by such natural disasters. Similarly, water and electricity are precious resources that need to be used intelligently. An environmentally-friendly home is one where a hygienic waste management system does not get jeopardised by an inefficient city waste management network, and air conditioners work at one-third the energy used by regular systems, These are houses that are well-ventilated; have floors that are friendly for residents suffering from rheumatoids and arthritis; their lush landscaping adding to the neighbourhood greenery and enhancing the quality of air, while reducing carbon dioxide in the air.
Think long-term
As a home buyer, you have every right to ask your builder to commit to the number and kind of treatment systems employed in the project and to what extent it will affect your demand for water supply. Venkat Chalasani, CEO, Samskruti Builders, agrees that it’s a good idea to discuss waste management and rainwater harvesting options. “Our projects not only segregate the waste, but also use the methane gas produced while composting the green waste. Black and grey water is purified and reused for flushing and gardening. Additionally, in all our projects, we create enough capacity for storage tanks to collect the graded rainwater.
Purified, potable rainwater is supplied to the community. These measures ensure all our communities are 70-100 per cent self-sustainable in terms of water,” he says.
Decentralised waste management is where the wet waste is handled at the individual home level through pits or smart bins and the recyclable waste is directed to the appropriate agency. It also makes perfect sense to think of energy design installations that reduce the use of power, while not compromising on comfort and convenience. This will mean the use of solar energy systems. It will mean the use of biomass gasification to convert waste into electricity.
