How to create homes that withstand the heat of summer and cold of winter

Homes Of The Future Must Be Sustainable And Resilient
Climate responsive housing is no longer a choice but an imperative, one, that the pandemic and the climate crisis have made all the more pressing for us. “We need to accept a few things. The home is no longer our fortress against the environment as we use to think. We should think of it as a space that will help us live through extreme climate events. Our homes have to be resilient and not just sustainable,” says Madhav Raman, an architect from Delhi and the co-founder of Anagram Architects.

One of the first ways to be resilient it to invest less, only build that which is essential, he says. An idea that Anagram has been trying to promote is to bring back the concept of baolis or shared water resources to the urban environment, crucial in the hot and dry regions of the country where water tables are depleting and monsoons are getting shorter.

Basic Principles of Design  
When one lives in north India as I do, one begins to appreciate basic design principles that can make a home comfortable, as opposed to the experience of living in a sauna through the long and insufferable summer which gives way to a hot and humid interlude before the winter sets in.

Architect Ashok B Lall from Delhi is a proponent of “careful design over expensive ideas” for climate responsive housing. He is suspicious of the term green architecture, which he finds is more of a marketing gimmick. According to him, climate-conscious housing is like choosing a healthy diet, we all must do it, and ultimately it gives you comfort in your home and reduces your carbon footprint.

He has a few tips to share, “In this region, where summer is of longer duration while building the house or buying one, you have to ensure there is no direct sunlight. If you have overly large windows facing the sun, then you’re turning your home into a solar cooker,” he says. “You can also add shading from the outside. Make sure your windows are not leaky, they must be shut tight, so that hot or cold air cannot blow through. Make sure the roof is insulated.”

Ramit Budhraja is a financial consultant who lives in Delhi. When he had to build a new home some years ago, he was conscious of two things, the home had to stay cool in the summer, their previous house used to heat up intolerably, and it had to conserve water.