VAASTU AND SUSTAINABLE DESIGN| VASTU SHASTRA 2015-2016€¦ · Web viewHence, Vaastu Shastra as a doctrine provides guidelines for human settlements and governance. To understand

VAASTU AND SUSTAINABLE DESIGN| VASTU SHASTRA 2015-2016

Contents1. Introduction:..................................................................................................................................3

1.1 Objectives:.............................................................................................................................3

1.2 Research question:................................................................................................................3

1.3 Methodology:........................................................................................................................4

1.4 Scope:....................................................................................................................................4

1.5 Limitations:............................................................................................................................4

2 Fundamental Principles of Vaastu Shastra:...................................................................................5

2.1 The doctrine of orientation....................................................................................................5

2.2 Site planning (Vaastu-Purusha- Mandala)..............................................................................6

2.3 The proportionate measurement of building (Maana)..........................................................7

2.4 The six canons of Vedic architecture (Aayaadi- Sadvarga).....................................................7

2.5 The aesthetics of the building................................................................................................8

2.6 3. Principle of sustainable design:..........................................................................................8

2.7 Ecological...............................................................................................................................9

2.8 Life Cycle Design....................................................................................................................9

2.8.1 Pre-Building Phase.......................................................................................................10

2.8.2 Building Phase..............................................................................................................11

2.8.3 Post-Building Phase......................................................................................................11

2.8.4 Site and building interactions......................................................................................11

3 Economic.....................................................................................................................................12

3.1 Economy of Resources.........................................................................................................12

3.1.1 Energy Conservation....................................................................................................13

3.1.2 Water Conservation.....................................................................................................13

3.1.3 Material Conservation.................................................................................................13

3.1.4 Social............................................................................................................................13

4 Humane Design............................................................................................................................14

4.1 Preservation of Natural Conditions......................................................................................16

4.2 Urban Design and Site Planning...........................................................................................16

4.3 Human Comfort...................................................................................................................16

5 Analytical relation between vaastu shashtra and sustainable design:.........................................16

6 PMK Bungalow ~ a vastu-compliant home in Pune.....................................................................18

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6.1 Design Principles..................................................................................................................19

6.2 Other Nature-friendly Systems............................................................................................21

7 RaBV Bungalow ~ overlooking a river in Karjat,Orissa.................................................................22

7.1 Site Conditions.....................................................................................................................22

7.2 Design Considerations.........................................................................................................23

7.3 Materials..............................................................................................................................23

7.4 Other Nature-friendly Systems............................................................................................24

8 Conclusion:..................................................................................................................................25

9 Bibliography.................................................................................................................................27

9.1 Web.....................................................................................................................................27

9.2 Books...................................................................................................................................27

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1. Introduction: In this fast developing world, unless we have a firm commitment to sustainability, earthly resources will become extinct and life chaotic. The sheer force of economic developments, especially in India and China, with their two-thirds of the world’s population, could have a drastic impact on this already exploited planet. If we are to check and turn around the world from its path of inevitable self-destruction, an integrated, practical approach to sustainable development must be identified. Inappropriate human settlement, planning and indiscriminate material-use have depleted the earth’s resources. Rationalizing an approach to land choice and use, water, sewage disposal, materials and community self-management will yield a solution. Traditional knowledge plays an important role in controlling human aspirations and ensuring interdependence and sustainability. The resultant built form of Indian cities today is complex, amorphous and chaotic. It no longer reflects a coherent response and ambience to its environmental context. The situation is reaching a crisis stage and a sustainable ecological relationship with built form is missing in new settlements. Today, humans are more than ever before aware of a loss of totality, wholeness and harmony. There is fragmentation and alienation of humans at all levels: individual, societal, psychical and cosmic. This is the consequence of adopting borrowed notions of planning and development. What is more unfortunate is that we are still looking towards Western concepts in attempting to solve the urban environmental crisis. Here Vedic knowledge Vaastu Shastra (an ancient Indian knowledge of architecture) is presented as a model for sustainable development. Hence, Vaastu Shastra as a doctrine provides guidelines for human settlements and governance. To understand the rationale for ‘human settlement design’ as contained in the Vaastu Shastra, one has to understand to devise a system that controls human settlement as an interest of sustainability, respecting the social fabric of the citizens, and their settlement. Sustainability is thus all about understanding the situation and developing methods that are equitable and that make sense ecologically, economically and socially.

1.1 Objectives: To find relation between principle of vaastu shashtra and principle of sustainable design. To find the role of vaastu and its principle in sustainable developments.

1.2 Research question:

Are the principle of sustainable design related in vaastu? Does vaastu and its principle point towards a sustainable approach to development?

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1.3 Methodology:

1.4 Scope: In this fast developing world, unless we have a firm commitment to sustainability, earthly resources will become extinct and life chaotic. If we are to check and turn around the world from its path of inevitable self- destruction, an integrated, practical approach to sustainable development must be identified. Inappropriate human settlement, planning and indiscriminate material-use have depleted the earth’s resources. Rationalizing an approach to land choice and use, water, sewage disposal, materials and community self- management will yield a solution. Traditional knowledge plays an important role in controlling human aspirations and ensuring interdependence and sustainability.

1.5 Limitations:All details have been studied and surveyed through literature available in various form. Therefore the author would try to analyse the already existing data on this subjects.

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2 Fundamental Principles of Vaastu Shastra:

Vaastu Shastra is essentially an art of correct setting whereby one can optimize maximum benefi ts of the Panchbhutas (fi ve elements) of nature, earth’s magnetic fi eld and the rotational infl uence of the sun, moon and the other planets surrounding the earth, It has laid down several principles for constructing buildings. The fundamental principles of Vaastu Shastra are applied in constructing buildings such as houses, commercial complexes, industry layouts, towns, temples etc. There are fi ve basic principles on which the great edifi ce of the Vaastu science of architecture stands. They are the doctrine of orientation; site planning; the proportionate measurement of building; (4) the six canons of Vedic architecture; (5) the aesthetics of the building

2.1 The doctrine of orientation.

In Indian thought, the cardinal directions hold a particular significance. The various associations given to the eight cardinal directions (northeast, east, southeast, south, southwest, west, northwest and north) help elucidate the orientation principles of Vaastu Shastra -Sustainable design also deals with orientation of building face due to sun ray and wind direction, because morning rays is useful for human. It kills the germs, and evening rays is harmful for human life. And wind flow south west to north east direction. Sustainable design suggest building orientation according to the sun path direction, so that the building should be in such orientation that building gain minimum heat in day time.

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2.2 Site planning (Vaastu-Purusha- Mandala).

Vaastu Shastra lays down various guidelines for choosing the proper site. It emphasizes strongly the examination of the soil, size, shape, taste, colour, smell and vegetation features of the land. If the plot of land is found to be satisfactory on all these criteria, then it is selected for the purpose of building a house, village, industry, town, fort etc. After the selection of land, the blueprint of Vaastu-Purusha-Mandala is provided for the grid that facilitates the inception of the design.

Vaastu-Purusha-Mandala is considered a model of the Universe and provides the basis for It is a metaphorical expression of the plan of the Universe and depicts the link between people, buildings and nature. Here Vaastu means environment, site or a building. As a concept, it extends to include a village, town, a country or indeed the whole earth in all its manifestations. When a building is in a perfect state or order, it is viewed as a Purusha, the ‘man’ of the universe, representing pure energy, soul or consciousness; a kind of creative intelligence in the universe. Mandala means a diagram. It relates to orientation because the earth is essentially demarcated by sunrise and sunset, by east and west, north and south. It is known as Vaastu-Purusha- Mandala because the name consists of three parts: Vaastu +Purusha +Mandala. As a rule its shape is square, which is the fundamental form of Indian architecture. The square form of Vaastu- Purusha can be converted into a triangle, hexagon, octagon or circle of equal area and retain its symbolism. Once the orientation of the site is established, the Vaastu-Purusha-Mandala or the ground plan is superimposed on the site. The Vaastu-Purusha- Mandala was so universal that it could be applied to an altar, a temple, a house, a city or the entire cosmos. Thus, Vaastupurusha is the form of human in a planned site characterized by the symbols of zodiac signs, constellations and planets, which represent the entire solar system, and make the site, house, palace, village, city etc. A micro-cosmic aspect of the macro-cosmic Purusha or Vaastupurusha But in modern time

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there is no choice for selecting site. Whatever is site planning and designing should be in context of site and surrounding so that the building gain maximum profit from surrounding and site. And planning grid are based on column layout and design.

2.3 The proportionate measurement of building (Maana).

The third basic principle of Vedic architecture is Maana, the proportionate measurements. The measurements are divided into six categories – measurement of height, breadth, width or circumference, measurement along plumb lines, measurement of thickness and measurementof inter-space. The role of Vaastu Shastra in the system of measurement is to achieve harmony between the absolute and the quantifiable. Measurement mediates finality to an architectural concept, similar to the spoken word, which provides a frame over which the canvas of thought is stretched. Measure ‘fixes’ as well as ‘evaluating’

2.4 The six canons of Vedic architecture (Aayaadi- Sadvarga).

There are six main components of a building, base (Aadhistaana), column (Paada or Stambha), entablature (Prastaara), ear or wings (Karna), roof (Shikara) and dome (Stupi). The Ayaadi formulas1 are some of the aspects analysed to assess the qualities of the house (Guna). In short, Aaya means measurement of building =length xbreadth.

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2.5 The aesthetics of the building.

Aesthetics as a branch of philosophy deals with the nature of beauty. Applying aesthetic considerations to buildings and related architectural structures is complex, as factors extrinsic to spatial design (such as structural integrity, cost, the nature of building materials and the functional utility of the building) contribute to the design process. Not with standing, architects can still apply the aesthetic principles of ornamentation, texture, fl ow, solemnity, symmetry, colour, granularity, the interaction of sunlight and shadows, transcendence, and harmony. In Indian tradition, beauty is considered as chanda (moon); the structural aspect of building and its rhythmical disposition is like that of poetry. These traditional principles contour buildings in multifarious forms, structures varied from one another to suit the different classes of buildings, to satisfy different functions, and they never present an identical view. As a result, Vaastu Shastra has been described as a body of knowledge, which has been sustained, developed and modified by successive generations of architects through many centuries. It implies a tradition of knowledge that has, at various times, been ordered and expressed (and so is handed down to us) in a range of texts, with a variety of titles.

2.6 3. Principle of sustainable design: ‘Sustainability’ has been traditionally used as synonymous with words such as ‘long-term’, ‘durable’ etc. It sheds light on the connection between nature and human communities, nature and culture. ‘Sustainable development is a development that is likely to achieve lasting satisfaction of human needs and improvement of the quality of human life’. The basic idea of sustainability is straightforward: a sustainable system is one that survives or persists. The term ‘sustainable development’ suggests that the lessons of ecology can and should be applied to economic processes. The following rules and criteria underline the concept of sustainable development. Rules. These correspond to the ecology; economic and social criteria are given below

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The rate of exploitation of renewable resources must not exceed the rate of natural regeneration. The level of missions must not exceed the assimilative capacities of the eco-system affected when non-renewable resources are depleted, the reduction in stocks must be compensated for by an equivalent increase in the stocks of renewable resources Renewable resources (such as forests or water) should be used only in line with their rate of regeneration. The absorption capacity of nature for harmful emissions (such as CO2 emissions or toxic wastes) should not be overstrained, so that the eco-systems remain intact. To get these management rules intact at the variousLevels of decision-making, technical, social and institutional innovations are needed and adequate incentives have to be set. The effects of anthropological influences on eco-systems must not abolish the limiting effect of their natural bounds. These regulations can be considered for the integration of management into the regeneration regime of nature. Sustainable management must also be organized in such a way that its integration is possible under technical, economic, political, legal, social, cultural and personal aspects Criteria. Developments are connected with ecology, economy and social compatibility. There are three types of criterion introduced and also for the range of ‘building and living’. These are detailed below

2.7 Ecological. Land consumption, sealing, resource consumption, energy consumption/carbon dioxide emission.

2.8 Life Cycle Design The conventional model of the building life cycle is a linear process consisting of four major phases: design; construction; operation and maintenance; and demolition . The problem with this model is that it is too narrowly defined: it does not address environmental issues (related to the pro-curement and manufacturing of building materials) or waste management (reuse and recycling of architectural resources).

The second principle of sustainable architecture is life cycle design (LCD). This “cradle-to-grave” approach recognizes environmental consequences of the entire life cycle of architec-tural resources, from procurement to return to nature. LCD is based on the notion that a material transmigrates from one form of useful life to another, with no end to its usefulness. For the purpose of conceptual clarity, the life cycle of a building can be categorized into three phases: pre- building, building, and post-building, as shown in Figure 7.

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These phases are connected, and the boundaries between them are not obvious. The phases can be developed into LCD strategies that focus on minimizing the environmental impact of a building. Analysing the building processes in each of these three phases provides a better under-standing of how a building’s design, construction, operation, and disposal affect the larger ecosystem.

The sustainable building life cycle.

2.8.1 Pre-Building Phase

This phase includes site selection, building design, and building material processes, up to but not including installation. Under the sustainable-design strategy, we examine the environmental consequences of the structure’s design, orientation, impact on the landscape, and materials used. The procurement of building materials impacts the environment: harvesting trees could result in deforestation; mining mineral resources (iron for steel; bauxite for aluminium; sand, gravel, and limestone for concrete) disturbs the natural environment; even the transport of these materials can be a highly polluting activity, depending on their weight and distance from the site. The manufacturing of building products also requires energy and creates environmental pollution: for example, a high level of energy is required to manufacture steel or aluminium products. Vaastu is also talking about the site selection while vaastu is more strict than sustainable. Building design in term of purush mandala vaastu gives the provision. In term of material vaastu sugest reusable material like-mud, stone, timber etc.

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2.8.2 Building Phase

This phase refers to the stage of a building’s life cycle when a building is physically being constructed and operated. In the sustainable-design strategy, we examine the construction and operation processes for ways to reduce the environmental impact of resource consumption; we also consider long-term health effects of the building environment on its occupants.

2.8.3 Post-Building Phase This phase begins when the useful life of a building has ended. In this stage, building materials become resources for other buildings or waste to be returned to nature. The sustainable-design strategy focuses on reducing construction waste (which currently comprises 60% of the solid waste in landfills1) by recycling and reusing buildings and building materials.

2.8.4 Site and building interactions The LCD concept calls for consideration of the environmental consequences of buildings in all three phases of the life cycle. Each phase of building life cycle is associated with two groups of ecological elements: site and building (see Figure 8). The principal domain of architectural design is in the building phase, but sustainable building can be achieved by finding ways to minimize environmental impacts during all three phases of building life cycle.

Ecological elements of Site and Building associated with the building life-cycle phases.

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3 Economic.

Life cycle costs of buildings, investments in change/preservation in comparison to new buildings, infrastructure and subsidy expenditures.

3.1 Economy of Resources

By economizing resources, the architect reduces the use of non-renewable resources in the construction and operation of buildings. There is a continuous flow of resources, natural and manufactured, in and out of a building. This flow begins with the production of building materials and continues throughout the building’s life span to create an environment for sustaining human well-being and activities. After a building’s useful life, it should turn into components for other buildings. When examining a building, consider two streams of resource flow (see Figure 5).

Upstream, resources flow into the building as input to the building ecosystem. Downstream, resources flow out of the building as output from the building ecosystem. In a long run, any resources entered into a building ecosystem will eventually come out from it. This is the law of resource flow conservation. For a given resource, its forms before entry to a building and after exit will be different. This transformation from input to output is caused by the many mechanical processes or human interventions rendered to the resources during their use in buildings. The input elements for the building ecosystem are each of these principles embody a unique set of strategies. Diverse, with various forms, volumes, and environmental implications. The three strategies for the economy of resources principle are energy conservation, water conservation, and material conservation. Each focuses on a particular resource necessary for building construction and operation.

The input and output stream of resources flow

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3.1.1 Energy Conservation

After construction, a building requires a constant flow of energy input during its operation. The environmental impacts of energy consumption by buildings occur primarily away from the building site, through mining or harvesting energy sources and generating power. The energy consumed by a building in the process of heating, cooling, lighting, and equipment operation cannot be recovered. The type, location, and magnitude of environmental impacts of energy consumptions in buildings differ depending on the type of energy delivered. Coal-fired electric power plants emit polluting gases such as SO2, CO2, CO, and NOx into the atmosphere. Nuclear power plants produce radioactive wastes, for which there is currently no permanent management solution. Hydropower plants each require a dam and a reservoir which can hold a large body of water; construction of dam’s results in discontinuance of river ecosystems and the loss of habitats for animals and plants.

3.1.2 Water Conservation

A building requires a large quantity of water for the purposes of drinking, cooking, washing and cleaning, flushing toilets, irrigating plants, etc. All of this water requires treatments and delivery, which consume energy. The water that exits the building as sewage must also be treated.

3.1.3 Material Conservation

A range of building materials are brought onto building sites. The influx of building materials occurs primarily during the construction stage. The waste generated by the construction and installation process is significant. After construction, a low-level flow of materials continues in for maintenance, replacement, and renovation activities. Consumer goods flow into the building to support human activities. All of these materials are eventually output, either to be recycled or dumped in a landfill.

3.1.4 Social.

Job effect, safety device of living and meeting demands, suitable residential environment, work and spare time, healthy living, increase of the residential property ratio, cost of living. Sustainable development is focused on a social organization of a learning process, on the ability to use nature and social resources i.e. the possibility of changing the development path and adopting alternative ways, considering the possible endangerment of the reproduction of nature and society or nature and culture in the diversity of their possible use for human.

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4 Humane Design Humane design is the third, and perhaps the most important, principle of sustainable design. While economy of resources and life cycle design deal with efficiency and conservation, humane design is concerned with the liability of all constituents of the global ecosystem, including plants and wildlife. This principle arises from the humanitarian and altruistic goal of respecting the life and dignity of fellow living organisms. Further examination reveals that this principle is deeply rooted in the need to preserve the chain elements of the ecosystems that allow human survival. In modern society, more than 70% of a person’s lifespan is spent indoors. An essential role of architecture is to provide built environments that sustain occupants’ safety, health, physio-logical comfort, psychological well-being, and productivity. Because environmental quality is intangible, its importance has often been overlooked in the quest for energy and environmental conservation, which sometimes seemed to mean “shivering in the dark.” Compounding the problem, many building designers have been preoccupied with style and form-making, not seriously considering environmental quality in and around their built environments. Remember the performance factor of design. When a product saves energy, does it perform as well as what it is replacing? And how does it affect the performance of building occupants? For instance, early fluorescent lighting systems were more efficient than their incandescent counterparts; however, some fluorescents were known to buzz. The bulb might save $30 in annual energy costs, but if the noise irritated the employee working nearby, the employee’s resulting drop in productivity could cost the employer a lot more, thereby wiping out any financial benefits gained from lighting energy conservation.

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A general rule of thumb in such comparisons is that the annual energy bill of a typical office building amounts to around five hours of employee labour cost; therefore, any building energy conservation

strategy that annually

reduces

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productivity by more than five hours per employee defeats its purpose. This is not to say that energy conservation can’t be financially beneficial, just that it should be kept in holistic perspective, taking other pertinent factors into account.The following three strategies for humane design focus on enhancing the coexistence between buildings and the greater environment, and between buildings and their occupants,

4.1 Preservation of Natural ConditionsAn architect should minimize the impact of a building on its local ecosystem (e.g., existing topography, plants, and wildlife).For preservation of natural condition Vaastu give the provision of sloped site for water harvesting, reusable material used in building, etc.

4.2 Urban Design and Site Planning Neighbourhoods, cities, and entire geographic regions can benefit from cooperative planning to reduce energy and water demands. The result can be a more pleasant urban environment, free of pollution and welcoming to nature. Vaastu suggest purush mandala for site planning and tell the cardinal direction for the geographic region.

4.3 Human Comfort As discussed previously, sustainable design need not preclude human comfort. Design should enhance the work and home environments. This can improve productivity, reduce stress, and positively affect health and well-being for the human comfort Vaastu say for courtyard for ventilation and lighting, room orientation to avoid magnetic directions, etc.

5 Analytical relation between vaastu shashtra and sustainable design:

Vaas shashtra is ancient building construction science. It is near about 35000 year old. It is manifest. It considered as religious but it not true. It is common for all. Because its origin was in india which is hindu religion country basically. So that they helped the religious angle to follow them force fully without any scientific logic or reason to save the environment, society and stable economy. Priest give only one mantra that is “follow it otherwise lose your money”. Its work well for them.On other hand sustainable design is a modern building construction science which is total based on logic reason and practical. Almost maximum criteria vaastu shashtra come in sustainable design. It is also based on social, economic and environmental. Because of modern technologies and science it gives all solution for all social, economic and environmental problem. Comparative table’s vaastu shashtra and sustainable design are given below.

CRITERIA VAASTU SUSTAINABLE DESIGN1-Site location Should be high point and light No provision for the site location

2-Site selection Gomukh/privacy No choice, as per availability. Waghmuh/wide front

No choice, as per availability

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3-Site slope Light Slope should be south to north and west to east

Site slope for water harvesting.

Cardinal direction & orientations

Magnetic direction & solar direction

No guide line for cardinal direction, but orientation should be in such way that building gain min. heat

Grids Vaastu Purush Mandala gride-1,4,9,16,25,36,49,64,81, ….1024, square of 32.

Grid are based according to column layout

Layout Plan According to Vaastu Purush Mandala

According to functionality

Open sapces Brahamasthan courtyard Room positions According to Vaastu Purush

Mandala As per function

Water body Well and underground water tank in north-east direction

Water harvesting on the site.

-Lighting Courtyard and opening in wall in north direction

Use of natural light maximum as possible in design.

Ventilation Central courtyard (barahmasthan)

Ventilation max. should be natural as possible.

Water harvesting Well in north-east direction so that max. recharge in mansoon

Water harvesting should be on site.

-Material Mud-brick wall, timber frame, and thatched roof.

Material should reusable and local available.

Access of water in site Soth to north & west to east direction so that rain water cannot blow in its in house

There should be catchment on the ground for water harvesting

Similarities between vaastu shashtra and sustainable design guideline.

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6 PMK Bungalow ~ a vastu-compliant home in Pune

Introduction: The bungalow is situated in pune in Maharashtra. This home is selected for case study because this is the home which is properly a Vaastu compliant as well as sustainable design in term of planning, material and all consideration as per Vaastu and sustainable design. The design of a private residence at Kondhwa, Pune, was a very exciting project. No Reinforced Concrete Cement (RCC) has been used and opted for load-bearing walls that are cheaper and, better for a building of this type.

Kondhwa has grown rapidly & haphazardly since the ‘90s. The skyline c. 2005

The exciting part included waste water recycling, rain harvesting and setting up solar panels – at least to heat the water – photovoltaic energy is still too expensive to be justifiable in areas that are connected to a power grid. Kondhwa is an area that’s growing more rapidly and haphazardly than many other parts of Pune. What used to be rolling hills where nomadic grazers brought their sheep as little as 10 years ago, is now largely denuded and taken over by builders. In such a scenario, where new high rises and swanky malls are coming up each day, a bungalows- only development – that too on a hilltop – is refreshing indeed. There was one condition, however – the house had to pass muster on the vastu front as well.

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A courtyard in the centre of bungalow

6.1 Design Principles Ideally, having large openings for maximum natural light and ventilation. The problem is,

with Pune’s hot and dry climate, this isn’t such a good idea after all. In a coastal area like Bombay, even in the hottest months, as long as the air circulates. Pune, though, is far removed from the sea and the temperatures are, consequently, more extreme. In summer, a hot breeze blows across from the South and, in such a place, it will be better to insulate the structure.

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View of the house from the approach road View of the house fro open courtyard in the centre of house

View of the house during construction. The ladi-coba method was used for flooring and brick arches spanned the openings to the courtyard Having said that, it is imperative not to totally stifle all movement of air and so a central atrium (brahmasthan in the vastu shastras) was designed to set up a slow, comfortable, convection that works in all seasons. This was combined with standard sized windows and deep overhangs to prevent the entry of heat during the summer months. Sun studies were also conducted to see how much direct light would penetrate at different times of the year. Unfortunately, the wind direction was, unexpectedly, from the North-East. Local people also mentioned that the area receives lashing rain, so that bit of information had a direct impact on the awning design.

6.3Materials The foundations and plinth walls were made of local basalt. The outer layer of stone was shaped by hand -- a rather labour-intensive process As far as possible, locally available materials were used in this construction. The foundation, for instance is of black basalt which is abundant throughout the Deccan. To minimise wastage, it was only being partially dressed and the natural randomness of shape was preserved to the maximum. The plinth itself was filled with broken rubble from a recently demolished structure. Being just a ground + 1 structure, the walls are load- bearing and the first slab has the traditional “Ladi coba” system except that, instead of teak, [Tectona grandis] like it was in the old days, the decision on rolled steel sections that can easily be reused at the end of the building’s lifecycle. The only RCC used was for pre-cast lintels over the doors and windows. A circular pit with a 1 ton grinding stone where the lime & sand

are mixed with water and pulverised together. The mortar that results is mixed with jaggery which helps it to set.

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Another interesting and unusual thing about this house is that it was built with lime mortar. It may sound odd and, although lime is not as “standardised” a material as cement, the end construction is often more sound. Additionally, unlike cement lime mortar uses little or no fossil fuel to manufacture and, hence, is much more environmentally sound. It does add to the work-load of the contractors though and it is difficult to get workers who are still familiar with this material. That’s not all, though. Brickwork set in Lime has the advantage of not cracking easily. Lime plaster, especially when finished with lime wash, has the property of “self-healing” any cracks because, the free lime carbonifies and merges with the plaster.

Local Basalt used in foundation and plinth wall Bullocks working on the ghani

6.2 Other Nature-friendly Systems

Energy Saving CFL, energy-saving compact fluorescent lights Natural light and ventilation (to a large extent from the courtyard) Heating of bath/kitchen water using roof-top solar panels Water Saving Low-flow dual-flush cisterns for WCs Filtering grey water from baths for flushing and kitchen water for gardening Recharging ground water by harvesting rain Waste Management Dry garbage (paper, plastics, glass and metal) is segregated and given to the kabbadiwala Raw sewage is treated organically and the only discharge is clean water that is put back into the ground.

7 RaBV Bungalow ~ overlooking a river in Karjat,Orissa Introduction: RaBV bungalow is situated at the bank of river in karajat in Orissa state. This home is selected for case study because this is the home which is properly a Vaastu compliant as well

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as sustainable design in term of planning, material, site site selection and all consideration as per Vaastu and sustainable design. One of a pair of neighbouring bungalows, this is now the permanent home of a couple who decided to settle in the the lap of the Matheran range.

7.1 Site Conditions The site has a fairly steep slope as you can see. Notice also the Garbat plateau and Matheran in the background.

The plot slopes quite steeply towards the river Pej, so full advantage was taken of this fact to have a partial basement on the lower side. This basement has three “rooms” – one of which is for tanks to store harvested rainwater for drinking and cooking. Although the Pej is perennial, it does have high levels of urea especially during the monsoon months. There were some mango trees where the house was to be built, so the location was modified a bit to avoid cutting them. A few bushes, some of them thorny, did perish though. The clients are experts on indigenous trees and have landscaped the surroundings of the house themselves.

7.2 Design Considerations Seen here from across the river, the verandah is a great place to lounge. Equally importantly, it acts as a barrier to direct heat-gain. Being a relatively rocky area, Karjat is a very warm place during the day almost throughout the year. Nights are usually pleasant but when the sun is out, one most definitely wants to retreat indoors. So, while one wants to maximise ventilation, one also wants to avoid solar heat gain. High-level ventilation therefore was provided on the windward and leeward sides of the house as a result of which, there is a constant circulation of fresh air and any heat is immediately expelled.

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Sun studies were conducted to check for the penetration of sunlight – especially during the summer months of April and May. The wind at this location usually comes from the South, over the river, bringing with it a relatively cool breeze.The design criteria was fairly straightforward — a home that was ecologically sound, easy to clean and with maximum view of the surrounding mountains. Energy usage was to be kept to a minimum because the area is chronically short of electricity and rain-water was to be harvested for drinking purposes.The clients wanted a very simple layout with a single bedroom, a study, a meditation room and an open plan kitchen. All around we planned a deep verandah for sitting out and, equally importantly, shading the house from the extreme heat of the Karjat afternoons.

7.3 Materials The deep verandah is an additional living space and protects the southern side of the house from heat. As the flyash-brick walls of the right are protected from direct rain, they have been left unplastered. There are very few locally available materials in this region with the primary exception of black basalt. This was used for the foundation work and for constructing the plinth walls. The superstructure, being load- bearing, was to be of bricks but the clients wanted to avoid terracotta bricks because of the degradation of top-soil and the usage of wood fuel for making it. Instead, they opted to make a statement by calling for fly-ash bricks from a plant in Wada – Thane district. However, standard fly-ash bricks look extremely dreary. Therefore, add red-oxide pigment to the mixture during production which resulted in bricks that had a wonderful pale terracotta colour to them. The grout, too, was of a reddish-brown colour to compliment these bricks. The use of RCC has been kept to a minimum with only the slab of the veranda and a single ring-beam at the base of the roof. The brick walls take the load exceedingly well and the roof is a light-weight steel pipe structure with “Eco-Board” panels topped by Mangalore Roof tiles.

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.esuoh eht oe tcnatrnE

Viewed from the river, the house nestles between tall trees -- most of them older than the house itself

Entrance to the house.


7.4 Other Nature-friendly Systems

Energy The Solar Cooker is a simple device with no moving or Electronic parts and using it saves huge amounts of cooking gas Energy-saving compact fluorescent lights and tube lights Indirect natural light and ventilation Bath/kitchen water heated by roof-top solar panels Food made in a zero-energy solar cooker Photo-voltaic portable lanterns and emergency lights Water As the site had a steep slope, It is advantage to create a Half- basement below the verandah. The spaces created Here house the rani-water harvesting tanks, a motorcycle and garden implements. Low-flow dual-flush cistern for the WC Harvesting of rain-water for drinking purposes Kitchen waste water sent directly into a soak-pit near

8 Conclusion: Vast shashtra and sustainable design are not separate thing, it is almost same. Basic difference is vaastu is ancient building construction science, without technology, and sustainable design is modern building construction science with modern technology and science. We saw that vastu and sustainable design both are worried about environment, Society and economy. Vaastu is forced on the behalf of religion and sustainable design is requested for safe future. Vaastu Shastra, or the Indian knowledge of architecture, is as old as the Vedas, which belong to the period 1500– 1000 B.C. This ancient knowledge (Vaastu Shastra) has not been presented in terms and concepts familiar to the modern world. Vaastu Shastra has become more relevant for modern humans

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because of the surrounding environment, which has gained importance due to pollution, climatic change, population pressures and overcrowded cities. In the 21st century, growth is one of the biggest challenges for humankind, The essence of ecological planning is that the buildings and open space should adapt to the land-forms with minimum disruption. When looking at the damage that our cities and development have inflicted upon the environment, In view of the changing patterns of lifestyle and advanced technology, the issue is whether we can evolve a new set of ‘rituals’ to preserve the urban environment. Sustainable development is mainly a concern of planning and designing with the environment. It means development and human intervention in the natural system to the extent of the carrying capacity of an area. The carrying capacity of a land/water area is the population or level of activity that can be sustained for a given length of time without depletion of resources or breakdown of the biological/natural systems. Therefore, Vaastu Shastra as an applied knowledge is an important approach in establishing a balance between human-settlement development and natural-resource use, while ensuring that the use of natural resources and systems does not deplete the land’s carrying capacity for the future generations. As a result, a society must not deplete natural resources or pollute the environment so as to irreparably harm future generation. It requires a liveable built environment, which relates to the quality and nature of the built environment, Vaastu Shastra, in the form of the planning of human settlements, has numerous important ancient Indian texts, which give a lot of information on principles governing building activity and on the use of rational materials. The appropriate knowledge of Vaastu practice of architectural design and methodology has been sustained through thousands of years This validates the importance of Vaastu Shastra in the present context of sustainability. Vaastu Shastra has evolved as a compilation of planning principles for a healthy living based on the knowledge base of the time (similar to Western treatises such as Vitruvius’) and was not meant to be absolute. Vaastu was earlier used in the design of homes, but became less prominent in the industrialization period during the colonial British time. However, it is used extensively in temple design, and so survived in the clans of temple designers and architects. In recent years, it has again gained mainstream popularity, and there are several Vaastu ‘consultants’ in India. The importance of five basic principles of Vaastu Shastra has also been discussed. They are the doctrine of orientation, site planning (Vaastu-Purusha-Mandala), the proportionate measurement of building, the six canons of Vedic architecture and the aesthetics of the building. These principles were formulated thousands of years (approximately 5000 years) back by sages, and are still applicable because of their technical practice and ecological dimensions. It can be easily tuned, extended and modernized accordingly to meet the basic needs of human beings. In order to establish the relevance of Vaastu Shastra as a ‘science’ and to sustain parameters of judgment where in the ultimate analysis a thing that fi ts in with its functions is beautiful, whether it is a human being or a house, there arises the concept of the Vaastu-Purusha-Mandala as ground plans and site plans. This provides templates that have the dual potential of interpretation of old monuments and conceptualization of new buildings. This epithet of ground plan blurs the difference in planning from one house to another, based on Vaastu Shastra (which in reality may not be geometrically a perfect square grid), conjectured as based on Vaastu Shastra because of its geometric similarity with the textual ‘ground plan’. The principles of the Mandala coexist with the other principles – of orientation, system of measurement, forms and so on – constituting the Vaastu Shastra programme for architecture. Vaastu-Purusha-Mandala as a central idea of a plan evolves to

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meet natural elements – such as light, water, wind, fi re, biodiversity etc. While the terms light, air, ground, water and so on were intrinsic to the traditional programme of architecture, as they would be to any other programme concerning architecture, the perception and the architectural consequence of these terms was newly imported to echo the modern movement in the West (Ghadlali, The fundamentals of Vaastu Shastra are based on low-cost architecture at a reduced environmental cost, with lowrise, high-density urban areas – for example in the state of Rajasthan – as a best way of using natural and local resources. Similarly, in the state of Kerala, everything is re-used and recycled. Leaves that fall from palm trees are used again for the roofs. This traditional knowledge is a magnificent approach to the modern world that shows us how to work with the environment, climate and materials that had long been available but unfortunately modern architects had forgotten and forsaken them. Hence, an old script of Vaastu Shastra that we have today is the most wonderful traditional knowledge existing in the world, and with some modification it could exemplify all the concerns of humans today.

9 Bibliography

9.1 Web www.btsquare.com http://ase.tufts.edu/gdae

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www.interscience.wiley.com

9.2 Books The Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems First Things First: Meeting Basic Human Needs in the Developing Countries. Published for the World Bank. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press. World Commission on Environment and Development (1987). Our Common Future. Holmberg ed. (1992), Making Development Sustainable, Chapter 1; Reed ed. (1997), Structural Adjustment, the Environment and Sustainable Development, Chapter 2.

Journals Social and Economic Dimensions, Volume 6 in the series Frontier Issues in Economic. Thought (Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 2001). Backhouse, Roger (1991). A History of Modern Economic Analysis . Oxford, UK: Basil Blackwell. Rostow, W.W. (1960). The Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-Communist Manifesto Indicators for Sustainable Development: Theory, Method,Canada: International Institute forSustainable Development (IISD).

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VAASTU AND SUSTAINABLE DESIGN| VASTU SHASTRA 2015-2016€¦ · Web viewHence, Vaastu Shastra as a doctrine provides guidelines for human settlements and governance. To understand