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PROPERTY PLUS

Small haven, with no hullabaloo about garbage

MARCH 10, 2012 00:00 IST
UPDATED: MARCH 10, 2012 04:17 IST

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Even a house on two cents of land
can have source-level waste-
treatment systems. SANGEETHA
UNNITHAN visits a compact house
with a variety of cost-effective and
energy-saving features.

As the waste-management crisis in cities

aggravate, source-level treatment of
waste has become inevitable. Although
most urbanites may want to go for it,

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15/02/2018 Small haven, with no hullabaloo about garbage - Hosur - The Hindu

many complain of lack of space in

erecting systems to get it done.

But that may not be a problem, as a

house at Edapazhanji in Thiruvanantha-
puram has shown. It dispels as myth the
refrain that waste treatment at source is
impossible in compact living spaces.

“Krishna Mangalam” of G.S. Rajesh is a

house with a difference. It is built on just
two cents of land, but eight members of
four generations of a family live in it
Big living: A house on two cents of land at
Edapazhanji in Thiruvananthapuram, incorporating comfortably.
a biogas plant and several energy-conserving
features.— Photo: S. Gopakumar  

What makes it different is the fact that

despite the paucity of space, the house includes features for energy
conservation and waste reduction, including a biogas plant and a rainwater
harvesting system. And those are just some of the “green building” features
incorporated in this cost-effective Baker-model house designed by Costford, a
voluntary organisation which provides technological assistance for rural
development.

Efficiency

“When we decided to build a house, we wanted it to be home for our larger

family and also wanted it to have some energy-efficiency features. When we

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15/02/2018 Small haven, with no hullabaloo about garbage - Hosur - The Hindu

approached Costford with all these requirements on just two cents of land, they
said it was possible. And here we are,” said Mr. Rajesh, who works at
Technopark. The 1,350-sq.ft house has five bedrooms in two “apartments” built
over three floors.

The 578-sq.ft ground floor includes a living room, an open kitchen, two
bedrooms, and a common bathroom. Outside is space for a sit-out and a scooter
shed.

Floor plan

The first and second floors together form the second “two-storey” apartment.
While the floor plan of the first floor is a replica of the ground floor, the second
floor has been cut out in a “mezzanine-like” design with an attached bedroom, a
utility area, and an open terrace.

If you are thinking how a biogas plant fits into this design, think again.

The biogas plant, with a capacity of 1 cubic metre, has been installed right
under the ground-floor bedroom. The rainwater running down the sloping roof
is collected using a system of pipes that run down to a collection tank under the
open sit-out.

“All kitchen waste is dumped into the biogas plant inlet and the gas is utilised in
the first-floor kitchen. We are able to bring down the consumption of LPG to a
considerable extent because of the biogas,” Mr. Rajesh says.

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Every corner of this house has been used cleverly to incorporate as much utility
features as possible.

So you have wooden cupboards under the seating slabs and an ironing platform
and a washing area on the open terrace.

As ample scope has been provided for cross ventilation with wide windows,
balconies, air holes and ventilators, the interiors and exteriors of the house
blend together effortlessly.

This has helped in providing an illusion of space as well as in bringing in

maximum sunlight and fresh air into the house. “This house was constructed
after bringing down an old tiled house. We have utilised the materials recovered
from the old house, such as wood and roof tiles, for various design features in
this house. The recycled tiles have been used as filler slabs on the roof, while the
used wood has been reused for cupboard doors, etc.,” P.B. Sajan, architect and
joint director of Costford, says.

Apart from tiles, earthen pots and even coconut shells have been used as
roofing fillers, sprucing up the aesthetics of the house.

Instead of wood, wire-mesh slabs have been used for shelves. Stained glass
fillers and glass bricks made of recycled glass have been provided to break the
monotony of the wall and let in more sunlight.

Use of rat-trap bond for walls for heat reduction, terracotta flooring, exposed
brick walls, rabble masonry for foundation, and use of rock powder instead of

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15/02/2018 Small haven, with no hullabaloo about garbage - Hosur - The Hindu

sand are some other cost-effective, energy-saving features integrated.

Fittings

The fittings and lightings inside the house have been chosen with care. LED
lights have been used in the common areas and provision has been made for
installing solar lights and solar heaters.

Taking the “green concept” a step further, Mr. Rajesh and family have started
terrace farming with sacks of lush green plants adorning the open terrace and
the balcony.

“This project is proof of the fact that shortage of space is really not a hindrance
for source-level waste management. Even if you have just one cent of land, you
can incorporate energy-conservation and waste-reduction features in your
house if you want to,” Mr. Sajan says.

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