Author: Rakesh Koti


Eco habitats are designed to be sustainable living spaces. Eco habitats are an amalgamation of many distinct systems which come together and function as a single organism much like our human body. To keep all the parts of this organism running energy is required. While the safe and witnessed food produced within the eco habitat helps to provide energy to the residents, other systems require electrical energy to operate and sustain. Production and utilization of energy play equal role in ensuring that the energy management is sustainable. To achieve this, we have set various goals for energy design as below:

‍

1. Demand minimization
2. Demand optimization
3. Renewable energy design

‍

These three goals happen in the same order. 

‍

Demand minimization:

Demand minimization refers to reducing the energy demand of the community as much as possible through passive techniques and systems.

‍

This is very important because any community can be net-zero if enough solar panels are installed. But how low can the demand be determines how effectively the design has been done. This has the added advantage of making the homes more comfortable to live as energy demand and comfort go hand in hand. 

‍

In the house, the primary energy guzzlers are air conditioning units followed by appliance loads. This is followed by lighting, and gadgets. 

‍

Therefore, the primary focus is to reduce air conditioning load and appliance load of the houses in the eco habitat. 

‍

To reduce air conditioning load, the following measures are taken:

‍

1. Increase in cross-ventilation through cluster design
2. Over deck roof insulation
3. Large overhangs to shade the windows from absorbing radiation
4. Shading outdoor units of air conditioning to improve efficiency
5. Strategically placed plantation on the facades of the houses to reduce radiation falling on the building
6. Strategically placed windows to flush out heated air from homes
7. Shading of the facade by the green wall where appropriate as per the design of the house.
8. Reducing the overall heat island effect in the community through farming & afforestation areas.
9. High SRI (Solar Reflective Index) paints on the terrace and roofs to reflect light back.

‍

Demand optimization:

Once the demand is reduced, demand optimization takes place. This is a way of efficient utilization of energy so that the overall required renewable energy is further reduced. This is achieved through a micro-grid. 

‍

A micro-grid is a way of energy distribution that takes advantage of collective living in the eco habitat. Through this, energy is directed to where it is required within the micro-grid.

‍

Renewable Energy Design: 

After demand minimization and optimization, based on the respective eco habitat community’s estimated energy requirement, the installed solar capacity per home is designed. The panels that are installed are mono-crystalline panels of high efficiency to deliver optimum performance. 

‍

The process of achieving energy sustainability in an eco-habitat is a continuous one, where the systems are put in place to achieve efficiency and people living in the eco-habitats do their part in adopting habits which help reduce the overall energy demand.  

‍

About Organo Eco Habitats

‍

At Organo we co-create eco-habitats that celebrate living. Eco-habitats are sustainable communities which offer an intersection of urban conveniences and rural experiences providing a way of life integrated with nature and focussed on wellbeing.

Organo creates integrated holistic living environments, where the residents can take part in collective natural farming and witness the food they eat. Having already delivered India’s first rurban commune- Organo Naandi, Organo is coming up with a 182-unit eco-habitat called Organo Antharam near Chevella.

To know more about our eco-habitat communities please call 9071123446 or write to us on info@organo.co.in .