: Solar-Powered Mud House Harvests 10,000 Litres of Rain, Stays Naturally Cool #IndiaNEWS #Architecture Bengaluru-based Reva Malik typically starts her day by observing the amount of sunlight penetrating

Solar-Powered Mud House Harvests 10,000 Litres of Rain, Stays Naturally Cool #IndiaNEWS #Architecture
Bengaluru-based Reva Malik typically starts her day by observing the amount of sunlight penetrating directly through the giant windows and into their terracotta-tiled living room. The amount of sunlight and other weather conditions decide what food will be prepared in the solar cooker on the day. For example, in case of harsh sunlight, Reva will prepare millet-based food.
Next, she draws recycled greywater from a tank, and waters the 40 varieties of organic vegetables and fruits growing in her backyard. She then places a glass jar, in which tea leaves are being soaked, directly under the sun. An hour later, she consumes the tea with her husband, Ranjan, while enjoying the pleasant temperature, thanks to ample cross ventilation.
Meanwhile, Ranjan has already kept their phones and laptops to recharge under the sun, while it’s still out, as the power is generated from the solar panels placed on the roof.
Reva and Ranjan Malik
If, at this point, you’re wondering if their lifestyle could get any more sustainable, this would be a good time to mention that their home is built from stabalised mud and recycled material. In addition, it also has an underground rainwater harvesting system, which can store up to 10,000 litres of water.
The house was designed and constructed by Mahijaa, a design consultancy firm. Its parent company, Mrinmayee, was founded in 1988 by Dr Yogananda M R, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), to emphasise on construction using stabalised mud and other eco-friendly construction materials and technologies.
By recycling and using locally-available material, Mahijaa brought down the overall cost of the house by 15% as compared to a conventional frame-structure, with prime emphasis on reducing the embodied-energy considerably.

“Having lived the majority of our lives in an urban setup, we really wanted to connect with nature,??? Reva, who runs a consulting firm with Ranjan, tells The Better India. She adds, “In 2018, we were bombarded with news of water scarcity and lake frothing. This bothered us, and so we decided to build an eco-friendly house on our plot the same year. Our aim is simple — to have a minimalist lifestyle and reduce our carbon footprint. We were fortunate enough to come across Mahija, a firm that also considers soil and mud to be sacred. They understood our ethos and built us our dream home. ???
What makes the home eco-friendly?
The house, spread over 770 square feet, is a unique single-roof rammed earth home that sits on a mud-concrete trench foundation. It is a single space, divided into a kitchen, living room and a mezzanine which acts as a study and bed.

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