raj_rathee
July 24th, 2005, 03:29 AM
Hey Hooda,
Here is something for your area of expertise....Of course, anyone
with ideas is welcome to jump in.
With these really high temperatures here in California and elsewhere
in the US, I am reminded of my primary reason of wanting to
leave India...the Indian heat.
Our houses in urban India just cooked in the summer heat. Infact, the
houses in the village were probably better off (I guess the higher
ceilings, larger rooms and maybe wood/mud roofs might have something
to do with all this).
So I am wondering what can be done to make the average home in urban
India cooler ? What affordable technologies are there that would
make temperatures more comfortable ?
Some things that I think of include:
1) Having double walls that provide for an air gap. But I guess this
would almost double the cost of construction. Another alternatative
I heard about these days is that they have new types of bricks/blocks that
have an air bubble pre built in them.
2) Higher ceilings. I suppose this is good, but don't know why we don't
see them these days. Cost again ?
3) Some sort of heat reflector on the roofs: perhaps a real reflector, or
maybe a makeshift lenter again above the roof..to again provide an
air gap between the real roof...Or what about not having the flat roofs
and instead have the roofs on the lines of western architecture....
I guess I run of ideas here...I don't know why these aren't implemented.
I guess it must be the cost.
But are there other architectual ways that are effective and yet
affordable ? And if so what might be the reason we don't see them.
Here is something for your area of expertise....Of course, anyone
with ideas is welcome to jump in.
With these really high temperatures here in California and elsewhere
in the US, I am reminded of my primary reason of wanting to
leave India...the Indian heat.
Our houses in urban India just cooked in the summer heat. Infact, the
houses in the village were probably better off (I guess the higher
ceilings, larger rooms and maybe wood/mud roofs might have something
to do with all this).
So I am wondering what can be done to make the average home in urban
India cooler ? What affordable technologies are there that would
make temperatures more comfortable ?
Some things that I think of include:
1) Having double walls that provide for an air gap. But I guess this
would almost double the cost of construction. Another alternatative
I heard about these days is that they have new types of bricks/blocks that
have an air bubble pre built in them.
2) Higher ceilings. I suppose this is good, but don't know why we don't
see them these days. Cost again ?
3) Some sort of heat reflector on the roofs: perhaps a real reflector, or
maybe a makeshift lenter again above the roof..to again provide an
air gap between the real roof...Or what about not having the flat roofs
and instead have the roofs on the lines of western architecture....
I guess I run of ideas here...I don't know why these aren't implemented.
I guess it must be the cost.
But are there other architectual ways that are effective and yet
affordable ? And if so what might be the reason we don't see them.