Open the Windows

Open the windows, its so hot in here! In major parts of India it is quite hot for most part of the year. Ancient home grown architecture always takes that into account and buildings are built that way. However, recently our copy west principles have seen architects rampantly copy western glass structures and bring them to India. Ever thought why so many glass structures are built in the western world? It is simply to capture the heat of the sun and keep the premises warm.

In India, we have so much perpendicular sun rays falling on our structures that we scarcely need entire walls of glass. And yet, copy west means that all the "modern" buildings are built of glass. This results in huge energy costs for our buildings since they have to be artificially cooled. Thus, whereas use of glass is eco-friendly in the west it is eco-wasteful in India. Architects, please think a bit more when you design the next building.

There are a lot of ideas for increasing the light in a building and using as much as the Sun's light must be encouraged. Just remember we need to cool our building interiors and not warm them up like many western countries.

People do discuss energy efficiency in buildings a lot. Here is a question-answer about south facing windows in North America. This website also talks about south facing windows only applicable for areas with higher latitudes. A book Energy-Efficient Buildings In India By Mili Majumdar seems to be a promising starting point with various aspects taken into consideration about energy efficiency of buildings in various climatic zones in India.

Decentralized Energy

Energy problems it seems are an unending problem in this country. We still do not have enough electricity and we still struggle with deciding what should be subsidized and what should not be subsidized. Why does our government not adopt a decentralized approach to solve the energy crisis?

The rural India has completely different needs and opportunities compared to the urban India. It would be extremely inexpensive for the government to start off bio-gas plants in rural areas and supply all the village's gas requirements just from the bio-gas plant. It will be fed by the huge amounts of cow-dung produced in our villages. In fact a lot of toilets can also be connected to the bio-gas plants putting an end the the horrible sanitation conditions in our villages.It could you effectively used in Mumbai where people use railway tracks as a toilet. Converting their waste into bio-gas could potentially light up a few more homes or cook food in a few more huts.

Solar powered home lighting and water heating solutions are easier to install than running power cables all the way from the closest substation. Also, it prevents theft of electricity. Often I am asked if it is economically viable to do so. No it is not economically viable. However, currently so many villagers steal electricity and recovering these recurrent losses are so difficult that a decentralized electric generation solution becomes economically viable.

Research must be enabled in India's premiere educational institutions to study about use of unusual sources of energy. Multinational companies are already trying to make this a reality as evidenced by this article. It is time we start pushing unique solutions taking advantage of India's bright sun and relatively predictable weather.  

Water should cost more

Water costs too less in India compared to the actual cost of purifying it and pumping it to our homes. Its cost should be beefed up for two reasons. First, citizens will understand the true value of this every decreasing resource. Second, municipalities will have the incentive to plug leaks. Currently water generates so little revenue for a city that it is more costly to fix leaks than it is to allow water to go waste. See how counter intuitive our system has become? It actually draws upon a much larger and very involved topic of the true cost of things which I shall not delve in to in this post.

For a perspective on how cheap is water in India go through this article. Another article that talks about similar issue I am raising is here.

What can we do as responsible citizens?
The government is promoting water harvesting in large apartments. In Bangalore, the municipal corporation has come up with a garden where they demonstrate how water harvesting can be done.

There is also a large cost of recycling drainage water. Therefore, effort should be made that relatively good water such as from rain drains, or from washing of vehicles or pavements does not go through the sewage system. Instead such water can be easily used to enhance ground water levels, or watering potted plants or your garden.

Recently I saw a pressurized water gun, which can be used to wash vehicles, consuming less water than by open water hose. It also gives the feel that you have washed your vehicle with a water pipe. (Of course the vehicle can also be cleaned using a mop in half a bucket of water.)

If you have a large house the car washing area can have a steel container underneath the car to collect all water and direct it to the garden or some irrigation system.

Have you seen someone use water more efficiently or do you do it already? Share your thoughts for others to benefit from it.