We must change the way we live in our cities. Just think about the price of oil, which is going to hurt us all badly in the future; change the way travel; the way we grow and consume our food.

There was never a better time to do the following:

Our leaders are shouting from the rooftops about oil price and oil companies are stopping LPG cooking gas supplies. But have they done enough to cut oil dependence? Have they devoted some of their profits to design, say, a solar cooker that will help millions of Indians?

In a country that is forever praising itself about its ancient prowess in just about everything, including positions for sex, there is not a single inventor or entrepreneur in sight with a good design for us to use the maximum energy that we get -- from the sun, at 42 plus degrees C this summer -- to cook our food. There's something called solar thermal to generate power even in the hotter parts of the US. But here in the sunny southern hemisphere, we have nothing. We heat our matchbox houses by day and some of us cool them with giant air-conditioners at night. We cut trees to show off billboards and shop fronts. We are glad to eat more pesticide and fertiliser, and do without medical systems when we develop cancer. We are willing to pay all our taxes and bribes when we are healthy and just crawl into a hole and die when we get sick.

We prevent ourselves from walking, cycling and enjoying fresh air. And in the process, we kill one lakh people and injure 15 lakh people badly each year with our fast cars and trucks.

Why are we such born losers? 

This is the time for change. As much for us as for America.

Development activities and improvement of civic amenities have taken precedence in the new board formed under the GJMM. For one, the sewage project has been remodeled to include areas between Jorebunglow to Lebong. “A consultant from Delhi will survey the area and submit a report by the end of the month. Rs25 crores has already been sanctioned which will be utilised to improve the network and construct new sewage lines,” Mr Tshering informed.

In future, the municipality will work in collaboration with NGO's in projects involving solid waste management and water harvesting. “A mechanical ropeway will be installed to dump the waste materials. A 30 acre area has been identified as the dumping ground,” Mr Tshering said adding that an amount of Rs 2 crores has been pegged for the same, 50 lakhs of which is sanctioned.

Considering the soil quality, the municipality is still judging the feasibility of water harvesting in the region. “The soil quality is being tested. However, we have spoken to NGO's to start small water harvesting projects in the local areas so that water crisis is solved to some extent,” he said. [The Telegraph]

Genzyme Corporation's corporate HQ, part of the Kendall Square Redevelopment Project, was chosen as a case study presented in Architectural Graphic Standards, 11th Edition because of the health and environmental challenges overcome by the RETEC Group, a Massachusetts environmental engineering firm. Immediately following the Introduction to Architectural Graphic Standards, Nancy B. Solomon explains the nature of those challenges as met by the building's creators on behalf of their client, a biotechnology firm:

The fact that the property (once home to a coal-gasification plant) was contaminated was considered an appropriate challenge: Genzyme's participation in the transformation of an abandoned lot into a vibrant asset was seen as consistent with its corporate mission of improving individual lives through the proper application of technology.

Solomon goes into more detail about this aspect:

An impermeable vapor barrier consisting of a nonwoven geotextile placed over the treated soil, a 12-inch layer of gravel resting on the fabric, and a spray-applied membrane between the gravel layer and concrete floor slab prevents uncontrolled gas seepage into the building. High-density polyethylene piping (running through the gravel and slab penetrations to vertical risers) safely removes any vapors from below grade. When activated, pressure sensors in various parts of the building and under the slab trigger a blower to draw fumes from this internal piping system to treatment equipment on the roof.

One of the building's innovations, which earned it recognition as a top ten green project from the American Institute of Architects, is the filigree wideslab construction system, which serves multiple purposes in fulfilling U. S Green Building Council standards. In this method, pre-cast, pre-stressed slabs of concrete are placed on pillars, then a reinforcing bar is added, with polystyrene filling in the spaces. Along with lessening the amount of concrete, this method allowed for nearly 400 fewer tons of reinforcing steel, with a resulting reduction of total building weight of 25%. The thermal mass of the structural frame also helps stabilize the building's temperature, which adds to energy efficiency.

The 12-story Genzyme Center features a central atrium which functions both as light shaft and return air duct. The interior light-enhancement system is meticulously described in Solomon's article, with explicit diagrams. The exterior features a curtainwall glazing system with operable windows. The evaporative cooling towers and landscaped roof make use of stormwater, and water conservation is aided by automatic faucets, dual-flush toilets and waterless urinals. The lobby contains a water feature, and there are 18 indoor gardens and outdoor terraces. The U.S. Green Building Council presents several very interesting pages on the project, described by one admirer as the "poster child of green building."

One important mission was not mandated by green standards, but considered imperative by the client in terms of by human needs. Rule 1 was that the building's form would follow the function of providing openness and togetherness. Everybody working inside would have ample opportunities to see, communicate with, and interact with colleagues.

Conference rooms and open-office areas adjacent to the atrium are separated from the central zone by full-height glass, providing acoustic privacy while maintaining visual continuity. The conference rooms are fitted with darkening drapes that can be employed when needed. The walls of private offices along this inner circle are sheathed with highly reflective anodized aluminum panels below and a combination of fixed panes of glass and operable casement windows above. The windows can be opened and closed manually by occupants, but will shut automatically in case of fire.

An interplay of clients, designers, and builder reinforced Behnisch, Behnisch & Partner's highly integrated design process, thereby, resulting in a building whose various elements resonate so well together.

If anyone reading this works in the Genzyme Center, it would be interesting to hear how you experience it from the inside.

I recently visited a new project of Maharogi Sewa Samiti in an area which has seen high rates of farmer suicides. My visit was originally to meet Baba Amte, but he passed away only a fortnight before I arrived.

Jhari and More is the report I filed on missing Baba, finding his son's legacy, and meeting a new grassroots champion of the farmers in Jhari, Pramod Bakshi.

Source: Knafo Klimor Architects

Vertical greenhouses we hear but vertical greenhouses we do not see. Maybe the urgent needs of China and a study by Knafo Klimor Architects of Israel is the perfect combination for the widespread use of a great concept.

The UN calculates that by 2010 about 50% of China's population will reside in cities and the trend will continue with the remaining 700+ millions in rural areas attracted by the jobs and incomes of the big centers. If things continue at current rates, China might be in for further environmental degradation.

Knafo Klimor's Agro-housing program combines high rise housing with vertical greenhouses. Residents will be able to grow their own plants in devoted green areas of each level. The plants will offer shade and areas for relaxation and leisure. Vertical shafts will provide natural ventilation and light, while the plants are a major incentive to fully utilise grey-water irrigation, drip irrigation and water harvesting. Extensive solar energy use completes the picture.

Source: Knafo Klimor Architects 

Is it really the time of the vertical greenhouse? The more pressing city problems will become, the more we will respond with novel solutions, so the answer is that we are very optimistic!

Link 1: Inhabitat

Link 2: Knafo Klimor Architects

Here rings the bell of danger. The days are not far when the demand will far exceed the supply. :( This is not only the issue of depletion but it also affects the quality of groundwater by the rising level of fluoride, arsenic and other metals and chemicals. The situation is not very different from air pollution as the negative externality is unlimited. It means you can hold land but you cannot hold water flow. A depletion of water in one block or land area would eventually have its negative impact over the other blocks.

The question arises “Why not there is a mechanism like “Water credit trading”at national level if not international, just like carbon trading?” is it just because still we feel that water is in abundance? Or we are just laggard in our attitude waiting for the problem to arise to think for an escape?

The report talks about new approaches to attain greater sustainability’ in ground water which means the level of extraction must be rationalized so that there wouldn’t be any negative impact on the source of water and other environmental degradation as a result.

But a very different and critical challenge crops up when we look at the situation in rural areas where farmers are completely dependent on the ground water. This situation is more intense in the areas where there is not adequate rainfall or has high fluctuation in the rainfall. An alternative must be carved out before taking any such measure which may have (in this case would definitely have) a negative impact on the agriculture of the country, where 83% of the irrigation is done from ground water and still a substantial portion of GDP is the outcome of agricultural sector ( 20% in 2005-06).

The alternative is the creation of more facilities for the use of surface water by building dams and other irrigational facilities. It can also be done by rainwater harvesting at local or individual level, which further requires some investment which either government or private of ppp needs to take care of. In other measures, the industries which are exploiting ground water can be made compulsory to establish plants for rainwater harvesting, which will ensure the exploited amount of ground water should not exceed the harvested amount of water annually...........

please do suggest few more ways in which you think this problem can be solved!!

Aam Nagarik

Will keep on editing it with time.

1. Shoot at sight order for those who are by any means going to destroy or harm public or public property.

This is more or less majorly focussed on AIADMK workers killing 3 innocent girls (burnt alive in Bus) in a Mob which came up in support of a bitch called J.Jayalalitha. This sucker lady was born to bring disgrace to Human kinds and Women of earth. Also the point in consideration is the bangalore riots after RajKumar died, Burning of trains in Mumbai when someone broke a statue in UP.

2. To remove all these vulnerable statues from country. If any mob gets up, shoot it at sight. When you dont have patience to see the statue damaged (may be by ur own ppl) u shud not fight for it to be kept public. You cant have ur cake and eat it too. Simple

To be contd...

According to Central Govt survey, Punjab is harvesting 170% of ground
water. This means if 10 litres water is restored in ground by rains and all,
we r taking out 17 litres.we are digging our graves. some iliterate farmers
might not understand this but some of them are literate and well connected
thru PAU. We need to bring out some campaign about this.
Also the govt shud stop eating public money and put it where it is required.
because badal's and Captain's will fly to US immediately after punjab is not
money rich or fertile but we all cant do that becoz none of us have
Rs.1300crores in foreign accounts.
If we can channelize some money properly into the system, we can start water
restoration plants everywhere. in monsoon times and all we le go precious
water down the drains. we can reuse the rain water from our roof-tops for
washing purposes. anyways the ground water is so much polluted with
pesticides that rain water is safe for drinking as well. this cn be started
for the domestic usage. also we can have rules for industry to use rain
water also and not rely on ground water ONLY.
Water pollution is another issue. rivers and canals are being filled with
poison by some greedy dogs and soe idiots officials are helping them in
this. why dont they understand that their kids also will drink the same
water. anyways i am writing a letter to CM punjab regarding this with copy
marked to all the major newspapers. let's see what happens.

Comments are welcome