A standalone home made from wood, amidst a large green landscape, usually in the western parts of the world - if that is all what you have in mind about green homes, you might be mistaken.

Earth homes are the ones built using local natural resources such as bamboo, limestone, clay, cow dung, stones and straw, thereby reducing the carbon footprint to almost nil. The practise has been followed since the ancient times, and is gaining momentum again in the wake of sustainable living.

India has been adopting this trend too. For the last three decades, architect Laurie Baker has been promoting low-cost building technology in India. The Laurie Baker Mud Foundation was established at Trichur in Kerala in 1989, primarily to popularize and conduct studies in mud architecture. Since then there have been many Indian architects and designers like Chitra Vishwanath, Trupti Doshi, Revathi Kamath, Biju Bhaskar, Yatin Pandya amongst others who are promoting sustainable architecture.

Most people believe that high cost and low durability make green homes too unrealistic to achieve. However, what gives the material so much potential in India with a large population of homeless and ill-housed people, is its cheapness and widespread availability. In addition, all the natural building elements are extremely malleable and offer better insulation than steel-and-concrete structures. Green homes decentralize the construction process because it utilizes local material and technology and thereby obviates the need for a contractor, and it costs much less to maintain such buildings. Lower energy bills is another advantage of earth built homes resulting in fewer fossil fuels being released into the atmosphere.

In India, a house is often considered as an appreciating and long-lasting investment, which makes even the poor dream of a brick-and-mortar home. Indians need to be shown that green homes can be made to last longer and at costs they can afford. It is also important to remember that while a house can be constructed as a green home right from the beginning, even a regular house can be modified to eco-friendly later. You can read our article on how to live a sustainable minimal residue lifestyle.

There are many success stories of individuals who have built and presently live in sustainable green homes across India, especially from the southern parts of the country. But the number needs to get bigger. The most common misconception people generally hold is that green homes are extremely expensive, compared to the normal houses and are only meant for high-end buyers. However, the price of a house depends on its location and the cost of construction. Sometimes the net cost of owning a green home can be equal to or even cheaper than a standard home.

In a more urban set-up like Mumbai where building a house from scratch is difficult due to high cost and paucity of land, government regulations come in the picture. The (LEED) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating, is a globally recognized system for certifying green buildings. In India, the rating systems that authenticate green buildings are Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA), Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) and the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE). Homebuyers who intend to buy a green home, can buy one that has been certified under one of these systems.

The primary benefits of earth-sheltered homes are:

• Highly stabilized climates within due to insulation and high thermal mass
• Reduced indoor pollution due to use of toxin-free building materials
• Relatively low maintenance requirements
• Are economical as materials used for construction are available locally in the nature
• Can be remarkably quiet within, even when situated in relatively noisy areas
• Renewable energy sources like solar power, hydropower and wind power can be used for generating heat and electricity, which significantly cut on utility bills
• The ecosystem and biodiversity is conserved largely