Curium Specification

CURIUM SPECIFICATION

MATERIALS

We intend to use a combination of energy-efficient and locally available materials in the construction. This ensures the use of minimal energy in their transportation and manufacture.

STONE

Another locally available material with excellent insulating properties and aesthetic beauty. Today building with stone is a craft that is slowly disappearing with the increasing dependence on factory-made synthetic materials, and therefore the need to revive its use.

MUD BLOCK & ADOBE

These are excellent materials, as the mud can be obtained from the land itself. Thermally comfortable, and the most sustainable material to build with.

WOOD

Wood is more than just an aesthetic source and is seen as a sustainable resource. To promote its use as a renewable resource, we intend to plant timber species within the EcoVillage. A warm, intimate material, it replaces high energy consuming steel and aluminum for doors and windows and can be used even for floors. We believe in recycling old timber - from houses that are demolished, from packing cases, and from plantation timber - as opposed to forest timber.

NATURAL STONE AND CLAY FLOORS

As natural floor materials, these are healthy. Wood and clay offers better insulation and comfort than synthetic floors. Besides they age beautifully with the years.

HOLLOW CLAY BLOCKS FOR ROOF

The role of natural materials in maintaining a pleasant temperature within your home can never be underestimated. Particularly so the roof. By reducing the use of concrete for your roofing and helping it breathe, we can greatly control the climate within your home, leading to lowered utilization of energy.

PAINT

We would use paints that are non-toxic, lead-free and low in Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC), commonly found in most indoor and outdoor paints, give out low-level toxic emissions into the air for years after application. Lower VOC paints preserve both the indoor and outdoor air quality of your home and help your family breathe easy!

DESIGN FOR NATURAL LIGHT AND VENTILATION

All the homes will be designed with adequate natural light and cross ventilation. Large windows, wide verandahs, air channels to take hot air out, and thermally conducive materials, are all features which reduce the necessity for artificial light and ventilation

DESIGN FOR SOLAR ENERGY

Sunlight will be greatly sourced upon at Birdsong EcoVillage, to light up the homes during the day and to heat water. This in turn leads to lowered power consumption and greater savings on your energy bills

ENERGY-EFFICIENT LIGHTING

We will use in common areas and streets, low wattage heating elements like CFL and LED lighting systems to ensure prudent use of power.

RAINWATER HARVESTING AND RECHARGING

It is proposed to harvest rainwater and the ground water can be recharged through well-spread out percolation channels. Roof water can also be channeled through pipes, passed through a series of filters and collected in a water tank. With intermittent rains, this supplements the regular supply. Collection ponds will be designed and integrated into the landscape. The drainage of the EcoVillage will allow for maximum percolation, minimum run off into the canal.

WASTE WATER RECYCLING

An on-campus sewage treatment plant recycles all waste water. The waste water from the kitchens and bathrooms will be collected and treated with a series of bio-filters and then passed through planted reed beds, to emerge clean. This water is then used for gardening and for toilet flushing. The planted reed beds merge elegantly into the landscape.

WASTE

We propose to have an efficient garbage disposal system that separates solid and non-biodegradable waste from the organic waste. Organic waste can be collected and composted, and the compost reused as manure. Some of the non-biodegradable waste can be incinerated. For the metals and plastics, one could look at recycling agencies which can pick up the waste.

CRAFTS

Traditional crafts like carpentry, stonework and masonry are slowly dying out as they cannot adapt to newer material, technology and requirement. But the value they impart to a space cannot be overlooked. We make a conscious effort to integrate these crafts and their skilled craftspersons in the building process. In all our work, we emphasise human resource rather than material.

AMENITIES - LIVE, WORK, PLAY

1.	Basic facilities of Primary education and health care will be taken care of in Birdsong EcoVillage, for the convenience of the residents. Walking to school, work and to shop will be the thinking behind all our planning.
2.	A playschool and crèche, which will be conceived along the lines alternative education and designed as a place where the youngest in the community can step out of the security of their homes into an extension of it.
3.	A primary health care center, perhaps treatment through traditional systems like Ayurveda along with the allopathic care, would take care of the minor fevers and colds. It could also become a community space for yoga and massage.
4.	A shopping cluster, for home needs, could be the venue for a weekly organic vegetable market from the farmers nearby, or a space to display crafts and skills of some of the members or locals.
5.	Workspaces for small entrepreneurs may be designed, with high speed connectivity, as the new world does not require everyone to commute, and the option to work in a green environment, near home, might be a viable option for some.

ECOSCAPE - INTEGRATING ECOLOGY WITH LANDSCAPE

When one talks of being eco-friendly, it does not stay in the realm of building, energy and water alone. The ecology- the flora and fauna, existing on the land, that might have existed before development took over, become important aspects in not only rejuvenating the land, but for the psychological and cultural values they impart.

In today’s language, “landscape” translates into well manicured lawns, with exotic plants, an almost “do not walk” culture, which is high maintenance, is high on its use of water. That is something we do not want. The effort is to create a landscape, with plants that are local, indigenous, might be edible, and have medicinal values, which blend to create a new aesthetic, where our children might discover insects and birds, which would not happen otherwise. A touch and feel space, fragrances will be used to create “places” within the campus. Trees can be climbed to pluck berries by the kids. The seasons expressed through the flowering and shedding of the trees.