The thought of building your own house itself is so exciting, isn’t it? It is the time when you can turn those magazine house pictures mustered for years into reality. The beautiful house you’ve painted in your thoughts is the inspiration to make it happen.
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In the cost versus benefit of green buildings, the owner wins, for the initial expenses are more than offset by the energy, water, waste positive home.
For years, man has been exploiting nature in the hope of achieving a superior existence thereby promoting imbalances in the earth’s ecology.
Rampant deforestation to accommodate an ever-increasing human Read More..
Today a good looking building is a major requisite for people. A home should not only be comfortable, spacious and safe, but also should catch everyone’s attention. Clay tiles are a complete solution towards this. From ancient times to contemporary age of today, clay tiles have been a major constituent of home construction materials as it not only imparts durability but also provides an artistic look to the building. Its holistic approach tends to impose a strong appeal towards home owners, builders and architects. Read More..
Making a decision to build your house from the ground up is the best thing to do in life. Building a new house as per your requirements has a lot of advantages over buying a pre-built house. Constructing your house means getting it customized from the scratch to fit your size. Read More…
A novel real estate portal called ‘Waugh Global’ promoted by the former Australian cricketer, Steve Waugh, was launched on September 8, 2015, in Mumbai. This real estate portal has stepped in India’s real estate market to cater to housing demands of Non Residential Indians (NRIs).
In a press conference, Steve Waugh, Chairman and Founder, Waughglobal.com, said, “The NRIs are highly enthusiastic about Indian real estate and are looking for good property options for both investment as well as own use purpose. ” He further added, “The portal will help them in finding the right property in a transparent and hassle-free manner.”
In the current scenario, the portal lists 91 properties of 10 developers across 7 cities, namely Delhi, NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata. Waugh Global has collaborated with some of the prominent developers like the Lodha group, Godrej Properties, Shapoorji, K Raheja, Kalpataru, Kolte Patil and Sobha Developers among others.
The focus of the portal will not be restricted only to listing properties. It will be to offer a comprehensive range of additional services as well. Services like property management and rental solutions, land advisory services, NRI qualification and activation services, as well as Australian property sales and market entry will also be provided.
“Currently there are thousands of property portals in India. We want to emerge as the global leader in this segment by catering to the demands of NRIs who are keenly looking at this market as an investment destination. We will not only list properties, but also provide services that will lessen the hassles of buyers,” said Dean Honan, MD, Waughglobal.com.
“The initial focus will be on these seven markets and we will try to crack the best deals. We will gradually bring some more developers. We will charge a certain percentage of the transaction for specialized services from both the developer as well as the buyer.” he added. He said that the company will initially focus on these seven markets and will gradually enter other regions.
When asked if the company is looking at raising funds for making its presence felt in the real estate market, Honan said, “We are a self-funded firm and we do not need funds now.”
Screen Shot of the website : Waughglobal.com
Video: Steve Waugh talking about launch of Waugh Global
The world’s biggest brick manufacturer decided to return the bricks to it ‘s original home town…India. Clay bricks have been used since ages in the country, known to most as the birth place for terracotta culture. It was Wienerberger’s initiative to introduce this amazing building material in an organized format, south India being their first destination in Asia.
In 2006, the company was incorporated in India with its very first Asian plant in Kunigal, 70 Kms from Bangalore, aiming to produce high quality clay building materials for the local market. After receiving the authorization from Karnataka State High Level Clearance Committee, Wienerberger completed construction of its production unit spanning 30 acres in the Kunigal KIADB Industrial Area by 2008, while manufacturing commenced in 2009.
The facility has the distinction of being a first of a kind fully automated production unit for manufacturing of clay bricks in India. With a capacity of over 100 million brick units per annum, it is one of the biggest units of its kind in Asia. The production is environmentally friendly, and runs 365 days a year irrespective of weather conditions. Presently, Porotherm Clay bricks are being used in all major cities in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.
Till date, Wienerberger has supplied Porotherm Horizontally Perforated Bricks to over 26,000 apartments across South India.
The projects include large apartment, villas, educational institutes, hospitals, hotels, commercial complexes and individual houses. Savings from using the bricks are especially large in high rise construction.
The goal of Wienerberger India is to meet the design requirements of architects, developers and builders in order to progress with time while always keeping the end customer in mind. The final aim is to create natural and healthy living spaces for the Indian consumers.
These Clay Bricks are used for Non-Load Bearing partition walls or infill masonry.
Main Advantages:
The three pioneers in the technology field have now shown interest in automating your homes and make life more easy. That’s Google Nest, Apple Homekit and Samsung, imagine a home which is a smart home and a green home as well. Automated home is the next thing in the coming years and these tech pioneers promise us to have the best state of the art facilities which would be energy saving and will contribute in being a green home though it is automated.
Source: greenliving.com/
Reasons to get into creating smart homes:
Image Source: followgreenliving.com/
Approach towards a Smart Home:
Image Source: images.forbes.com/
Image Source: cloudfront.net/
Image Source: androidcentral.com/
Emerging Companies in Home Automation: Top brands like LG, Qualcomm with AllJoyn have also come up with few home automation devices these companies also promise security and safety to the houses. Qualcomm has come up with a technology where in there is no requirement of any hub to be installed all the devices can be controlled from a smart phone or a tab and these can also act as a hub.
Image Source: media.licdn
These companies are the top brands in technology and are now trying to be the best in home automation. As home automation is a new trend in smart homes these brands make it more interesting and user friendly. This concept is just warming up among the brands, ten years down the line, we might find more than fifty percent of homes automated.
Powered by a Building Expert from Wienerberger India
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The definition of smart city varies from individual to individual. For some it’s the growth of technology and for some it’s living in nature’s lap. With the growing development, the change in the environment is inevitable. Smart city represents the interest of human as well as uplifts the spirit of nature. With the moving time, every species on earth are growing in an unprecedented way. It is very necessary to understand the complexities that are growing in the ecosystem. The technological advancements of humans are very important for the overall growth of human population, but in the pathway of doing it we are hampering nature as well as other species. Smart City is a solution and necessity in nowadays.
The below graph shows the rise in population in Bangalore:
[source: CGGE ]
Smart city represents the unique combination of automation and green living. It talks of refinement of city through proper planning of putting unique elements to improve city strategy. Bangalore was once considered a green city but through time technological advancements and population growth have paved way in its environment friendly attributes. Smart city is the need of the hour. The graph below shows the growth of population in Bangalore.
For attaining a smart city, we have to keep in mind some important elements. A Smart city should have proper combination of certain elements and their perfect implementation for the effectiveness to be a successful model.
A city’s architectural design forms the basis of a foundation. A well planned design is highly essential for achieving the concept of smart city. It should reflect the immense growth of human race, withstanding less effect on ecosystem. The aim is to achieve certain architectural design without being dependent on nature. The houses and monuments should highlight sustainable development. Some common practises for achieving the concept of smart city are:
The process of disposal, collection, transporting, and monitoring of waste materials are very important to achieve smart city. The wastes around the city can really hamper the ecosystem and every living thing around it. Proper implementation is needed for waste management, coming from daily uses as well as construction sites. Proper steps should be taken, so that city in general can be less affected by it. Some of the steps that must be taken are:
Use of automation system involves use of electronics for controlling different things apparatus or process of everyday life. The progress of man from analog to digital phase has been immense .The rise of machines has lead to huge advancements. Automation system involves usage of integrated computing system that automatically controls building operations, security, light system, energy management, fire safety control etc. Automation is very important for achieving smart city as it highlights the immense progress of mankind. Automation gadgets have become highly popular in the recent times, it saves time and energy. Some of the famous gadgets are: One Touch Automation system, Brio Outlet and Home Safety System, Belkin Wemo Light Switch, Philips Hue Personal Wireless Lighting and many more.
Some of the common advantages of automation living are:
Electric power is a great source of energy. Consumption of electric power is very essential for human being around the globe. Smart city talks about the usage of electricity from the source that does not hamper the environment .Electricity for green city involves the usage of renewable energy sources that will not run out. To gain advantage in electric consumption, renewable energy resources should be implemented in public transport, insulation of buildings, street lighting etc. Some of the common methods of achieving green electricity are:
Other than this there is Geothermal, Biomass, Landfill gas and more ways to produce energy efficient energy.
Greenery matters, green space is highly important for the proper functioning of city. The concept of urban farming, urban gardening all are highly important. Green spaces in a city are highly essential for climatic stability and for emission of various components in the ecosystem. Here are some basic practises for achieving perfect green condition around the city:
British artist Richart “Reishee” Sowa started building his ambitious artificial Island in 1998. Which was located in a lagoon near Puerto Aventuras, on the Caribbean coast of Mexico south of Cancún. He used plastic bottles along with plywood and bamboo for support. He poured sand on the plastic bottles and started growing plants and mangroves.
Sowa with his artificial island- Joyxee Island
Image Source: photoshelter.com
The island sported a two-story house, which had a solar oven and self-composting toilet. Sadly the island was destroyed by hurricane Emily in 2005.
Sowa couldn’t give up, he built another island in late 2007 and 2008, in the waters of Isla Mujeres near Cancun. The island was opened to the public in August, 2008.
Image Source: lifebuzz.com
Sowa has made weight lifts out of water bottles, and sources reveal that he likes to work out every day.
The new island has three beaches, a house, two ponds, a solar-powered waterfall and river, a wave-powered washing machine and solar panels. Volunteers helped with the project. Sowa will continue to make improvements to the Island, so it will always be a work of art in progress.
If you had a close encounter with this guy or take a look at the multiple videos of him on YouTube, you’d think him to be cuckoo. Which reminds us, “… the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
Let’s take a visual tour of the island.
Curated by a Building Expert from Wienerberger India
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Source: indiatoday.in
While social media is taking over lives, we do lose track of time and important things in our life. It is pretty easy to get side tracked with the flow of information at hand. There was once a very direct and powerful documentary by Ex-vice president of USA Al gore. It was titled ‘The Inconvenient Truth’, besides winning an Oscar for best documentary it won a lot of hearts. Al Gore made a clear and sound statement regarding the importance of eco-friendliness.
These days celebs do more than just ‘selfies’. They do care about the environment and participate and advocate for the right causes. We got some celebs who are conscious on the affect of the effect we mortals have on our mother earth.
Gul Panag
The actress has one of the first houses in India to be built on eco-friendly standards. She has got an eco-friendly holiday residence near Pune.
Panag’s home is registered under TERI’s SVAGRIHA: Small Versatile Affordable GRIHA system. “SVAGRIHA is a significantly simplified, faster, easier and more affordable rating system that functions as a design-cum-rating tool.
The eco-friendly home has a rainwater harvesting system with underground storage, which will be able to gather up to one lakh litres of water a year and solar panels to meet the daily power needs.
She has said that, apart from being environment friendly it also helps save electricity bills. As the house has a large double glazed window, it removes the need for air-conditioning.
While some are busy buying luxury cars and Superbikes, it is comforting to know that people like Gul Panag are interested in eco-friendly environment.
Source: dramatize.com
Imran Khan
Imran’s house in Pali Hill, Mumbai, belonged to his grandfather, late filmmaker Nasir Hussain, and it has been there for the past 50 years. The young actor has renovated it in an eco-friendly manner. Now, the house is eco-friendly with interesting aspects like solar panels, water harvesting and perfect ventilation.
Speaking about the house to the reporters he has said the following. “The need of the hour is to be sensitive to the environment. We want a green earth and each of us must take solid steps in that direction. While I don’t wish to actually give away every minute detail of what my new bungalow will have because it will spoil the fun, all I can is that it will be environment-friendly.”
Source : dnaindia.com/
Abhay Deol
Abhay Deol was once an ambassador of the climate project, founded by former US vice-president Al Gore.The actor has personally supervised the construction of his dream house in Goa. The eco-friendly building has solar panels and rain water harvesting set-up. His house was designed by architect couple Vishakha and Muninder Chowdhry.He is ambitious enough to seek a LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) certification.
Source: sulekha.com/
It is heartwarming that people like Gul Panag, Anhay Deol and Imran Khan are voicing the right concerns. By being eco-friendly they inspire plenty more to join the bandwagon. Such devotion spite of their busy lives must be appreciated and their views adopted. Let’s join in the fight to safeguard our ‘home’ for the future generations to enjoy.