CASE STUDY

REALIZATION PROJECT – AUROVILLE EARTH INSTITUTE

-LASNA K [19]

S H A R O N M AT H E W [ 3 2 ]

ABHIJITH C [1]

MAHSOOMA [21]
The Auroville Earth Institute
The Auroville Earth Institute (AVEI) is a non-profit organization specializing in the research,
development, promotion and transfer of earth-based building technologies, among the most
cost effective, low carbon, low embodied energy solutions for sustainable development.
The work of the Earth Institute has attempted to revive traditional skills and to link vernacular
traditions of raw earth construction with modern technologies of stabilised earth.
The mission of the Auroville Earth
Institute
The mission of the Auroville Earth Institute is:
To revive traditional skills, and to link ancestral and vernacular traditions of raw earth construction with
the modern technologies of stabilised earth.

To enable and empower people to build their own dwellings using earthen techniques.

To develop cost effective technologies, affordable to all.

To respect our Mother Earth, while using its natural resources to build a sustainable future.

To teach and practice sustainable resource management (for both human and natural resources).

To demonstrate that earth, as a building material, can be used to create modern, progressive, eco-friendly
and safe habitats.
INNOVATIVE TECHNIQUES
The following technologies have been mastered and are disseminated since years:
•    Stabilised rammed earth foundations with 5 % cement
•    Stabilised rammed earth walls with 5 % cement, rammed manually
•    Composite plinth – step plinth with CSEB, plinth beam with reinforced concrete cast in U shaped CSEB
•    Composite columns – Round hollow CSEB with reinforced cement concrete
•    Composite beams and lintels – U shaped CSEB with reinforced cement concrete
•    Wide variety of compressed stabilised earth blocks (17 moulds are presently available for producing
about 75 different types of blocks)
•    Various vaults with compressed stabilised earth blocks
•    Stabilized earth mortars and plasters

The following technologies are still under research and they will be disseminated only once mastered:
•    Composite blocks (earth, fibres and stabilizer)
•    Alternative stabilizers to cement (“homeopathic” milk of lime and alum)
•    Alternative water proofing with stabilized earth (soil, sand, cement, lime, alum and tannin from the juice
of a seed)
Realization
Realization is a residential community of 17 apartments for about 25 people. It was intended as
a participatory project in which future residents would be involved in the building and
elaboration of the complex. Everybody could contribute physically, mentally and spiritually in a
collaborative way for the growth and progress of Auroville. Realization was a project of the 
Auroville Earth Institute and was constructed using Compressed Stabilized Earth Block (CSEB)
technology, from 2007 to 2012.
Building Details
Climate Analysis

Realization Community is located in Auroville, an international township in the southern Indian

state of Tamil Nadu, close to the city of Pondicherry. The climate is hot and humid, with the bulk
of rain coming during the North-East Monsoon (October-December) and to a lesser degree
during the South-West Monsoon (June-August). The town is located close to the sea, on a
plateau. Significant reforestation efforts have created large swaths of forest throughout
Auroville, which has significantly improved the micro-climate of the area during hot seasons.
This allows passive ventilation strategies to be a very effective mode of cooling.
Design Approach

The layout of the buildings was done to preserve as much of the pre-existing vegetation as
possible while taking advantage of prevailing wind direction for natural ventilation. The natural
slope of the site allowed for a reduction in excavation for the foundations. All soil excavated was
used for the production of Compressed Stabilized Earth Blocks (CSEB), the principle building
material.
Building design
Realization apartments are multi-storied constructions with stabilized earth. The buildings were
designed with earth a building material from foundations through roof: principally Stabilized
Rammed Earth Foundations, Compressed Stabilized Earth Block (CSEB) for load-bearing walls,
and CSEB vaulted roofing along with ferrocement channels to minimize the use of conventional
roofing materials. Apartments were planned in accordance with the space allocation
recommendations for Auroville, making ideal use of small spaces. Double height spaces were
planned in many of the apartments to improve ventilation and natural light, while staggered
floor plans were optimized for the prevailing winds.
Special Feature

Natural Lighting
Windows, especially in double height spaces with proper orientation for natural lighting without
excessive heat gain.
Water efficiency
Rainwater from the roof is channeled to an underground cistern. This harvesting tank is cross-
purposed as an earth cooling tunnel. Rainwater harvesting swales are incorporated into the
landscape for maximum percolation rates and groundwater recharge, in a region where low
water-table levels and salt water intrusion are chronic risks threatening access to potable water.
Passive heating/cooling
 1. Insulation: Insulation on vaults for reduced interior heat gain.
2. Shading: Overhangs, set-back facades on vaulted spandrel walls, and tiered, elevated garden spaces
shade the building envelop to reduce thermal gain and increase thermal comfort during the warm season.
3. Stack effect & Cross ventilation: Double story spaces for stack effect cooling are employed, with
maximum cross ventilation to passively exhaust heat from buildings. Additionally, vaulted floor systems
have cavities and ventilators which ventilate rising interior heat to the facades of the spandrel walls.
4. Cooling tunnel: An earth cooling tunnel cools exterior air through heat exchange by passing the air
through ducts which run through the subsoil and underground rainwater harvesting tank.
5. Hygrothermal cooling: Stabilized earth additionally has a hygrothermal cooling effect, as the active clay
particles cause an evaporative cooling effect within the wall when exterior temperatures rise.
Building Material

Structural material
Load-bearing masonry of Rammed Earth and Compressed Stabilized Earth Block
Foundation
Stabilized Rammed Earth Foundations (5% cement stabilization)
Walls
Compressed Stabilized Earth Block (CSEB) masonry (5% cement stabilization)
Doors and windows
Wooden frames made from trees cut on site or downed during the 2012 Cyclone Thani (which
felled up to 60% of trees in Auroville)
Flooring
Ceramic Tile
Finishing
Lime Stabilized Earth plasters
Roofing
CSEB masonry vaults (principle roofing); ferrocement channels (secondary roofing system) Load
bearing structural masonry vaults were built with CSEB. As a compression-only roofing system,
this allows standard, high embodied energy RCC roofing to be replaced with stabilized earth. No
steel is required in a compression-only vault (only an optimized amount of steel in springer
beams and tension ties). All structural calculation was done in-house at the Auroville Earth
Institute.
 Interior Lighting
Exterior Lighting
Natural lighting and energy-efficient bulbs

Energy systems

Interior Lighting
Natural lighting and energy-efficient bulbs
Exterior Lighting
Energy-efficient bulbs
Air-conditioning
According to the preferences of the occupant (with intended aim of zero air conditioning)
Energy efficient systems
Photovoltaics were integrated into the electrical infrastructure but not implemented on account
of cost.
Cost effective features
Virtually all buildings systems are equally as cost-effective as they are low in environmental
impact: A key feature of earthen construction is that - as a labour- intensive construction
technique - a high percentage of construction cost is invested into local economies of production
and construction, as opposed to imported industrial building materials. In the case of
Realization, approximately 65% of the cost of construction was for labour; this is roughly the
opposite of cement-based building technologies (in which generally 60-65% of construction is
invested in material).
REFERENCE
1. https://www.earth-auroville.com/realization_community_en.php
2. www.tropicalbuildings.org/case_studies/75
3. http://www.earth-auroville.com/construction_projects_en.php
4. http://wiki.auroville.org.in/wiki/Realization_(Community)
5. https://www.cseindia.org/realization-community-3615