Eco-friendly to the core
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The IISE campus is a delight for those who believe in Laurie Baker’s maxims. SANGEETHA UNNNITHAN visits the place in sylvan Vellayani.
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— Photo: S. Gopakumar
One with nature: A view of the International Institute for Social Entrepreneurs campus at Vellayani on the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram.
“This place is a paradise. And we want to keep it that way.”
Paul Kronenberg, co-founder of the International Institute for Social Entrepreneurs (IISE), says those words with a sense of pride.
And why not? It is not often that we get to meet people who succeed in turning their vision into reality. The International Institute for Social Entrepreneurs (IISE) at Vellayani, near Thiruvananthapuram, is one such reality.
When Sabriye Tenberken, German social activist, and Mr. Kronenberg first decided to set up the IISE as part of their “Braille without Borders” mission, their idea was not just to realise their dream of an institute to empower the visually challenged. They wanted to blend a lot more ideals into this project. Developing an environment-friendly space for their students was part of it.
Situated on the banks of Vellayani Lake, the IISE today is a design marvel in more than one way. Designed and constructed by the Centre for Science and Technology for Rural Development (Costford), the IISE integrates many eco-friendly and energy-efficient features within its three-acre campus.
Right from water-recycling systems to eco-san toilets, the institute stands tall as a sustainable architecture project worth emulating.
“We believe that it is a crime against humanity if you don’t go for environment- friendly techniques in design and construction when they are available. So, the first thing we thought of before starting this project was to look for an organisation that shared our vision. That is how we landed up at Laurie Baker’s Costford,” Mr. Kronenberg says.
This is one project that has put into practice Baker’s maxim of making maximum use of locally available materials.
So much so that even the mud used in the artistic brick-and-mud structures has been sourced from the very same plot.
“There are four buildings on this campus and all of them have been built mainly of bricks and pure mud which has not been mixed with any artificial material, not even cement. The main architectural theme of these buildings drew inspiration from the traditional gable-roof style of Kerala architecture,” says P.B. Sajan, architect and Joint Director of Costford.
According to Mr. Kronenberg, the IISE, with its gradients and numerous staircases, does not really have a “blind-friendly” design.
He and Ms. Tenberken, who provided inputs and suggestions for the design, did not want the buildings to adjust to the needs of the students, because it is not so in the real world.
However, there is one design feature introduced to help students find their way to the right classroom. And this was giving different shapes to different classrooms.
“We achieved this by making irregular partition walls inside the buildings while maintaining a regular shape outside. We have also provided long open corridors and open spaces in the buildings with enough scope for natural lighting and ventilation inside,” said Mr. Sajan.
No fans here
In fact, you cannot spot a single fan in the institute, which remains cool even on hot days. But that is only one of the many ways in which the institute has cut down energy consumption. S
olar water-heating systems, two biogas plants and motion sensor light switches are some other ways.
The waste generated, including black-water and kitchen waste, is supplied to the biogas plants which produces cooking gas for the campus kitchen. Grey-water from showers and washbasins is recycled through a bio-filter made up of special plants that absorb soap. The filtered water is used for watering plants and flushing toilets.
A boat jetty kept afloat by 2000 plastic bottles, an amphitheatre bedecked with broken tiles and basement water tanks to store harvested rainwater are some of the other interesting features at the institute.
“This is also, perhaps, the first project in Kerala to introduce the eco-san toilet, which is a specially designed toilet that can collect urine separately to be used as manure for plants. This eco-san toilet has been imported from Germany,” Mr. Sajan says.
What is more, they have also got hold of an energy-saving mechanism, developed by a team from the College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, that uses energy from the gym bicycle to pump water to the overhead tank.
“There are many more features we would like to introduce like powering all the electrical equipment through solar panels. Meanwhile we also want architects and students to visit our campus to see the eco-friendly features we have introduced here and share their views,” Mr. Kronenberg says.
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