GREEN HOMES

Make your home energy efficient and avoid environmental toxins by using materials and in a responsible manner resources

- SMITA TRIPATHI

1 Mud, stone and reclaimed wood are the major materials used

THE GOOD LIFE

WHEN 56-YEAR-OLD interior designer Revathi Nair was building her retirement home on the outskirts of Bengaluru, she was conscious of the fact that it had to be sustainable. “I was constructing a house, so that was anyway adding to my carbon footprint. The least I could do was ensure it was sustainable,” she says.

A sustainable house is one that has the least possible impact on the environment. That means it is energy efficient and is built using materials with a low carbon footprint. “Sustainability is not restricted only to the environment but it’s also about the socio-economic impact. Construction is only a part of it; you need to think of the whole operation,” says Rosie Paul, Co-founder and Principal Architect of Bengaluru-based Masons Ink Studio, which specialises in sustainable homes. She recommends working with local and natural materials such as mud, rocks and stones, and engaging local labour. “That way you positively impact the community and help the local economy with labour and materials,” she says. Italian marble is a strict no-no if you want to build a sustainable home.

Says Anupama Mohanram, Co-founder and Head of Architecture at Green Evolution, a Chennai-based firm that specialises in building energy-efficient and earth-friendly spaces: “Use natural materials like mud blocks or hollow terracotta blocks that are good insulators. Concrete and brick are very poor insulators. They absorb the heat from outside during the day and radiate it inside during the night. Concrete heats up the place; it’s also not sustainable.”