Property Plus
Coimbatore
They stand tall among boxed structures
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Conserve, reuse and recycle are the mantras of eco-friendly buildings, writes M. Soundariya Preetha
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The winners: Leelavathi Gopikrishna’s house at Peelamedu, which won the ‘Eco-Friendly Home’ award given by Residents’ Awareness Association of Coimbatore and the Association of British Scholars.
For two days, Mr. Belliappa visited houses and offices in Coimbatore. He was looking out for gadgets that helped conserve energy, greenery in the buildings and the materials used in these structures. A retired IAS officer, former chairman of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board and UN expert on environment, P.M. Belliappa, selected the recipients of the Eco Awards constituted by the Residents’ Awareness Association of Coimbatore and the As
sociation of British Scholars, Coimbatore chapter. After short listing and screening over 45 applications, he visited over a dozen buildings and chose three for the Eco Awards.
The organisers received 47 applications for the awards under three categories – gated communities, offices and homes.
Some of the criteria used to judge the eco-friendliness of the buildings were: use of eco-friendly building material, use of locally available material wherever feasible, energy conservation by use of new and alternative sources, use of energy saving devices, architectural features of the building, rainwater harvesting, reuse and recycling of domestic waste and waste water, treatment of waste water, greening of premises, and commitment of the user to sustain the eco-friendliness. The award winning buildings had a majority of these features, he said.
SACON’s office at Anaikatti, which was adjudged the ‘Eco-Friendly Office’
“We visited the buildings since a lot of claims can be made in the applications,” he says. Just greenery and use of terracotta does not turn a building eco-friendly. The buildings should visibly display the criteria mentioned for the award. Managing the building by conserving the natural resources is also important.
For instance, how many of us make it a habit to switch off the lights when we leave a room? Do we close the faucet while brushing teeth or do we allow water to flow, he asks.
People usually talk about eco-friendly houses and programmes. But, there is hardly anything tangible. Here is a programme to generate awareness among the residents of the city. This is a good initiative, he remarks.
Explaining the need for such buildings, he says a lot of buildings now are boxed and not close to Nature. These are mindless. Best quality of life comes when we are close to Nature and it starts with the effort of each individual. Pointing out to the airy hall at the Coimbatore Club here and the huge arches, he says, look at the natural ventilation and lighting in this building. It just needs application of mind and the mindset to go in for such structures.
Covai Property Centre’s Soundharyam Project, near Coimbatore, which won the ‘Eco-Friendly Gated Community’ award.
“We have completely moved away from such buildings. It needs additional effort to find sources for the materials and workmen. But, we have to create a demand first,” he says. There is a great value in eco-friendly practices. “We should try living close to Nature and use Nature more.” Let Nature work for us. The eco-friendly features are better done from the time of planning the building. However, some features such as energy saving devices can be added later too. Conserve, reuse and recycle are the catch words.
The award is an innovative approach and it should continue, he wished the Coimbatoreans.
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Property Plus
Coimbatore
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