SUSTAINABILITY

-Swapnil Jain
-Vikalp Singriwal
What is “SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT”

• “Sustainable development is development

which meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs.”
• The term 'sustainability' should be viewed as
humanity's target goal of human-ecosystem
equilibrium (homeostasis), while 'sustainable
development' refers to the holistic approach
and temporal processes that lead us to the end
point of sustainability.
 DIMENSIONS OF SUSTAINABILITY
• Environmental
It requires first a proper management of resources, but also: waste reduction,
proper wastewater treatment, low emissions, use of renewable energy and eco-
friendly materials, etc.

• Social
It integrates all group categories and levels (ethnic, religious, economic, health, etc.).
Quality of life, uplifting local skills, impacts on local communities, etc, should also be
taken into account.

• Economic
It promotes endogenous growth, which is linked with the creation of new market
opportunities, cost reduction through efficiency improvements, creation of additional
added value, etc.
 SUSTAINABLE HABITAT

• Sustainable habitat needs to integrate various technical parameters, such as:

• Appropriate urban planning – the population in its environment and technical
means
• Appropriate architecture design – adapted to the environment (physical, social
and technical)
• Renewable energy sources and appropriate building materials
• Management of resources and use of environmentally sound building materials
• Water management – drinking water supply, rainwater harvesting and
wastewater treatment
• Earth management when people are using earth extensively as a building
material
AUROVILLE
 CONCEPT

• The initial concept of the city

was laid down by Mirra Alfassa
(The mother).
• The city was conceptualized in
the form of a galaxy with central
peace zone and other areas
radiating out from the central
zone and finally surrounded by
a thick green zone.
 LANDUSE
• In the heart of the city is the
Matrimandir and its gardens.

• Whole of the city is surrounded by a

thick green belt comprising of forest
land & agricultural use(1.2 km wide).

• The city is divided into ‘five’ major

zones:

1 Industrial Zone(109 hect.)

2. International Zone(74 hec.)

3. Residential Zone(189 hect.)

4. Cultural Zone(103 hect)

5. Peace Area
 ROAD NETWORK
• Car Free Plan :All areas of the city are
within 5 or 6 minutes walking distance.
The outer ring road could take motorized
traffic and connect with centralized
parking areas there. Onward travel would
be BY bicycle.
• Pedal-power within the city proper:
Inside the outer ring road area, transport
of people and goods would be by pedal-
power and electric-powered vehicles.
• Parking at outer ring-road : The outer ring
road will be large storage yards for
accommodating supplies while awaiting
dispatch into the city.
 WHY “AUROVILLE”?
A creative revolution sparked in the city as it showed
promise in the fields of applied research in architecture,
showing ways in which building material and
technology could define a way of living.

The concept of the invention of Auroville allowed

experimentation with various aspects that are involved
in architecture which include, building technology,
materials used for building like keet, palm leaf, earth,
and casuarina.

Other aspects included eco-friendly architecture to suit the natural surroundings and
integrating it successfully with the environment, geomancy, geometry, cost effective
building materials, the design of spaces worth utilizing, concepts of rainwater
harvesting, and methods to bring down energy consumptions among others.
 CSEBS
• CSEBs or the compressed
stabilized earth blocks are
manufactured in Auroville which
contains 5 percent of cement.
Their production uses lesser
energy (10.7 times less energy)
thus reducing pollution and can
be done at the site of construction.
• With hollow and interlocking
CSEBs, earthquake resistant
technology has been developed.
FERRO CEMENT-BAMBOO hybrid structure

• A combination of Ferro cement

structure and bamboo is highly
recommended as it prevents the
buildings from collecting heat
throughout the day and brings
about a reduction of radiation at
night as well.
 OTHER EARTH TECHNIQUES

• Raw rammed earth

• Adobe blocks, the traditional sun dried mud brick
• Wattle and daub which is mud plastered on a wattle
made of split bamboo or palmyra tree
 STABILISED EARTH WATERPROOFING
•The earth is mixed with sand and
stabilised with cement and a paste
made of lime, tannin, alum
(Ammonium sulphate) and water.

Training centre of the Earth Institute: Waterproof with stabilised earth

 HOURDI BLOCK ROOFING
•The hourdi block produced by ADJUSTING
HOURDI
the Auram press 3000 is used to BLOCK
create floors and roofs. ROOF

These blocks rest either on

reinforced concrete T beams or
on ferrocement channels.

As these blocks are hollow they

create roofs which are more
comfortable under a hot climate.

The resistance of these blocks is

extremely high.

Floor with HOURDI BLOCKS AND FERROCEMENT channels

 AUROVILLE EARTH INSTITUTE
To date, the main synthesis of this research on
appropriate building technologies based on stabilised
earth is implemented in the campus of the Auroville
Earth Institute. This building is entirely constructed
right from the foundations to the waterproofing with
stabalised earth.
The foundations and walls were made with stabilised
rammed earth with 5% cement. The roofs were done
with various catenary vaults, which were built with
CSEB, by using the “Free-spanning” technique. The
flooring was as well done with CSEB tiles stabilised
with 5 % cement. The stabilised earth waterproofing Training centre of the Auroville Earth
was made with three coats of various mixes of soil, institute
sand, cement, lime, alum and tannin.
 WASTE WATER TREATMENT

• The systems consist of underground containment

and pre-filtration tanks, and overhead oxygenating
and polishing ponds.
• For commercial and urban spaces, the institute has
designed a cylindrical vortex system which takes
advantage of centrifugal and centripetal forces to
filter and oxygenate the water.
• Another technology used for wastewater treatment
is Effective Micro-organisms (EM). EM is an organic
liquid composed of microbes
 CONCLUSION
The success of the Auroville experiment has highlighted the import of integration
of all sectors and all levels of planning and design for successful sustainable living.
As the international community continues to intensify the promotion of technology
and processes to reduce anthropogenic carbon levels, and conserve natural
resources, the Auroville model presents a simple and innovative model for
sustainability.

As global temperatures continues to warm, sea levels rise, and natural resources
become even scarcer, communities in rural India and the rest of the developing
world are the most vulnerable to associated climatic change. Sustainable
development must therefore place modification of rural unsustainable practices.