What makes a house ‘green’?

Green is in vogue. Many buyers begin their search with a strong interest in green, even if what they understand by a “green home” is vague. While the growing interest in green homes is an exciting and positive development, some buyers are falling victim to green washing, the practice of marketing a product as eco-friendly when it really isn’t. So, if you want to buy a green home, you definitely have to do some extra homework.

The first thing you should do is ask yourself why you want to invest in a green home. It’s an important question because people tend to buy a green home for one of the three reasons, and while each of those reasons overlap to some extent, they determine what the buyer really means by green. Green can be as simple as saving on energy costs, which means buyers will want to focus on energy-efficient appliances, weather-proof windows and good insulation. A green home can save 30-40% energy from day one of occupancy, which, our research shows, can light up 35 village homes per year. Similarly, water savings are 20-30% above a conventional home. This can provide water to one village home for an entire year.

Alternatively, some buyers define green in personal health terms, so they want a home that uses non-toxic materials. Lastly, some buyers define green as contributing to a sustainable future. For those buyers, it’s often important to look for building materials that are locally sourced and sustainable.

Unlike earlier, when energy-efficient or water-efficient homes could get away with being called ‘green’, new rating systems ensure that a green home needs to address all facets of environmental concerns. Everything from the site of the building, water, energy, materials and indoor air quality are considered in the rating system. A green home isn’t just a green structure; it’s a home that makes the best use of the land and the resources around it. Asking simple questions such as which direction the home is oriented toward can tell you a lot about the home’s green credentials.

Let’s look at the different parameters and how they matter:

Site selection: Here the focus is local building regulations, soil erosion control, basic household amenities, natural topography, heat island effects, parking facilities for visitors and design for differently abled people. Something as simple as the house’s orientation determines how much sun exposure it gets, which affects heating and air-conditioning use.

Likewise, it’s important to understand prevailing winds, because these have an effect on temperature inside the home.

Water efficiency: Evaluate the property on the basis of whether it has rain water harvesting systems, efficient plumbing fixtures, landscape design and waste water treatment systems. A good tip is to pay attention to the landscaping. If it’s dominated by non-native plants, that should raise alarms for green buyers. In some parts of the country, water is a serious issue, so non-native plants are going to raise your costs and make it harder to be green. Apart from sustainable landscaping, you can also use water conserving taps, which save you up to 35,000 litres every year.

Energy efficiency: This rating is based on use of chlorofluorocarbon-free equipment, enhanced energy performance, on-site renewable energy, solar water heating, energy saving measures in appliances and other equipment and energy metering. The simplest fixture you can have is a solar water heating system. You can also have more complex solar systems for providing energy for lighting as well. Also, as a house owner in a green project, you could spend as much as 40% less on energy bills every month. So, clearly green homes are not for any particular economic segment; it is a choice about making smarter energy-efficient buildings.

Materials and resources: Rating parameters for this are based on household waste segregation, organic waste management, handling of construction waste materials, reuse of salvaged materials, materials with recycled content and local materials. You should ask your builder if they plan on using green building materials such as autoclaved aerated concrete bricks, which are not only lighter but also more eco-friendly than regular red bricks. Solid waste collection and disposal that involves composting is essential in minimizing waste from your home.

Indoor environment quality: Parameters considered under this head are based on measures for tobacco smoke control, minimum artificial lighting during day time, fresh air ventilation, exhaust systems, low volatile organic compound materials, paints and adhesives, building flush-out, cross ventilation, and others. You can design the house to maximize ambient light during the day to reduce the use of artificial lights. One can also use special building materials that help to reduce indoor temperatures and thereby decrease air-conditioning costs.

Design innovation: This is all about following standard sustainable design practices. Your house or building can give you significant savings over the long run if designed cleverly. Nobody buys an eco-friendly home just because they are inclined to be green. They see the value of cheaper costs of energy and greater security on water. You can do without the water supply board, bore wells or tanker water suppliers. The energy bills can be minimized and can reduce your dependence on the external grid to just about 30% of all the electricity usage.

It’s a matter of choice.

Prem C. Jain is chairman, Indian Green Building Council (IGBC).

Read more here.

Conserve water or stay thirsty

As the water level goes down with every passing day in Bangalore and all across the world, it is time to get up and fight for saving the wetlands or else your kids and mine would have to walk thousands of miles every year to get a small bowl of drinking water.

The most prolific group working on wetlands in and around Bangalore is IISc ecologist Professor T V Ramachandra and his team of resea­r­chers. 

“We’ve been studying the shapes and forms of the wetlands for 20 years. Every characteristic of lakes and wetlands in Bangalore has been mapped by us. But I am sorry to say that the technology city has suffered from depletion of wetlands over the last 20 years,” says Prof Ramachandra.

As per their research, over 300 lakes/wetlands have disappeared in Bangalore’s eco-system, with the City now having only 93. But seasonal lakes, lakes which come alive during monsoon are high in number at around 190.

“Wetlands are different from lakes, in that lakes would be the actual water body, while wetland would be all the soggy area and lands around the lake. The wet areas where weeds grow and where water is absorbed are all wetlands. At one point, we had almost all the lakes with extensive lands around them. The sixties and seventies saw a very exuberant green landscape dotted with water bodies. But by the nineties, the waterbody ecosystem completely changed,” Ramachandra explains.

What has been the major factor causing disappearance of the lakes? The ecologist puts things in perspective: “Urbanisation is at the core of Bangalore’s lake depletion. Too many buildings, construction of structures over lakes, encroaching wetland area around the lakes are responsible for the decline in lakes. 

Typically wetlands are denotified by government agencies and passed on to builders who pay a hefty bribe in return for the land bought. This agency-builder nexus should be taken out if we have to ensure strict regulation of waterbodies.”

There is also an opinion that orders on lake regulation by bureaucrats smack of ignorance of the ground situation. Says a researcher: “Ï have never seen bureaucrats visiting or inspecting lakes periodically. There is no long-term plan in place on how to preserve and protect the lake bio-diversity. 

Of course, there is the Lake Development Authority (LDA), but how much authority does it really have in the face of other powerful government agencies that do away with the land? Environmentalists have not been able to deal with the land mafia. 

A set of vested interests develop around a lake and at the right time, things move in the government to denotify areas and money is exchanged liberally. The committees that have bureaucrats must also have credible ecologists and environmentalists, thinkers and credible urban planners.”

Groundwater in Bangalore has been taking a hit for some time now. Researchers have pointed out that many groundwater areas have gone dry in and around Bangalore. All Bangalore residents don’t have access to water from the Cauvery river. 

So there is heavy dependence on borewells and underground water. In many areas, it is common to see women collecting water from taps and pipes in a corner or from a public borewell facility. 

This shortage could have been mitigated to an extent by expanding and preserving the water bodies around Bangalore. While it would not solve water problems on a huge scale, there could be a case for water body rejuvenation via water regulation.

Social researchers fear that water shortage will lead to conflicts and everyday fighting among residents of particular districts or regions. 

“Water wars are not impossible to anticipate in the near future. There is already a difference of opinion on water sharing between the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu who depend on the Cauvery river - southern India’s lifeline. 

From urban residents, both rich and poor, to farmers in the agrarian regions, Cauvery is vital for survival. In such a context, drawing water from other reservoirs would help.

Experts say water bodies close to the T G Halli reservoir (which also supplies water to the city), at the border of Western Bangalore, need to be protected to rejuvenate underground water. Unfortunately, industries were given permission to operate from around the area. But a sustained campaign against industrial presence has resulted in positive changes. 

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) asked nearly a dozen industrial units to shut shop from areas close to the reservoir, called Zone-3. The Tribunal also ordered that units vacate from Zone-4, stating that there can be no justification for granite cutting and polishing units around the reservoir. 

Chemicals were dumped on the river bed and into the reservoir and canals. Anti-pollution activists are reasonably happy that orders were given to factories to relocate. Hopefully things will get brighter as awareness picks up on the need to protect and preserve precious water bodies in and around Bangalore. “We would be very happy to share our studies on wetlands to help in their preservation,” says Ramachandra.

Water on Mars

Yep. There is. I am in the know how and have access to some classified information for quite sometime now and that makes me believe strongly that there is water on Mars and that this would not just be a good news to us humans but also a great chance to explore and move on to new worlds.

This announcement of the presence water or should I say the presence of an ocean on Enceladus, a moon, revolving Saturn just affirms that water and other life supporting elements can be existent all around the universe and we are in the process of discovering them.

When the Cassini spacecraft got its first closeup look at Saturn’s moon Enceladus after the probe’s arrival in 2004, it was rewarded with a jaw-dropping sight: giganticgeysers of ice particles and water vapor spewing hundreds of miles into space from the icy world’s southern hemisphere. These plumes are so prolific that they continuously resurface Enceladus’ sparkling white surface with a fresh coating of ice crystals—and still have enough left over to be the main source of ice particles that make up Saturn’s E-ring.

I sincerely hope Mars rover or our own Mangalyaan just affirms this and makes us proud. Fingers crossed. Waiting.

Water management in Gujarat India

I am not a big fan of Modi or any other politician but this is incredible as it brought in inclusive development. Why can't we do this in all other states? Especially in the newly formed Andhra.

I also love the simple way of presenting data in this video. Comparing the data points to internationally known information that brings the awe factor (like the great wall of china, Indian Railways and so on) was a brilliant decision. Also the credibility factor is high when you have actual non-related people testify the results in a non-data sharing way.

Sure you can use some of the pointers here.