Sustainable Technology and Design in Auroville
Kunal Sahu (12BCL1034), Nataraja Sai Charan (12BCL1053), Harshit Kumar (12BCL1010)
A B S T R A C T
The topic of sustainability is at the forefront of current international discussions. The rising importance
placed on green practices has been prompted by the rapid depletion of natural resources, and the increased
anthropogenic interference in the natural climatic balance. Private and public research institutions and bodies
are continuously researching and working on innovative technologies and systems which are environmentally
viable for the today’s society, and Auroville is a part of this pursuit for a sustainable future. In this project we
have found out how the use of sustainable technology and design helps Auroville to have a better life. We
have shown the different technologies that are used in Auroville which serves as renewable resource. We have
compared the cost of Compressed Stabilised Earth Block (CSEB) with other types of blocks.
I N T R O D U C T I O N
1. Location
Auroville is located 12 kilometres north of Pondicherry, India. The term Auroville comes from the
French “aurora” meaning dawn, and “ville” meaning city. In the 1960’s, the fascination for India and the
longing to actively achieve sustainable development led a small band of people from various different
countries to join together in a common vision for this degraded region. At the inception of Auroville in 1968,
the founder - Mirra Alfassa (referred to as ‘the Mother’ within Auroville) was concerned with creating a
unique community that would integrate social, spiritual and environmental consciousness in its growth. This
social consciousness, alongside the natural environment has created the ideal experimental community for
innovation and design.
Satellite view
The concept of Auroville - an ideal township devoted to an experiment in human unity. The concept
was then put before the Govt. of India, who gave their backing and took it to the General Assembly of
UNESCO. In 1966 UNESCO passed a unanimous resolution commending it as a project of importance to the
future of humanity, thereby giving their full encouragement.
They come from some 45 nations, from all age groups (from infancy to over eighty, averaging around
30), from all social classes, backgrounds and cultures, representing humanity as a whole. The population of
the township is constantly growing, but currently stands at around 2,160 people, of whom approximately one-
third are Indian.
2. City Plan
The whole city is of 1.25 km radius. Mainly divided in following six regions:
1. Industrial Zone
2. International Zone
3. Cultural Zone
4. Peace Zone
5. Residential Zone
6. Green Belt
In Auroville around 40% is residential, public spaces about 28%, commercial, manufacturing and other
economic activities constitute about 12%. About 13% is under roads and streets serving both urban and
non-urban uses. Six village settlements within the Auroville township area. At present there are 95
Auroville residential communities. The Commercial area in the Township includes retail services. The
manufacturing use includes about 100 large and small manufacturing and processing units. Public and
Semi-Public uses include amenities such as schools, health facilities, services and utilities. Administrative
and Institutional uses include centre (Bharat Nivas) & Auroville Foundation offices. And remaining few
playgrounds, center field.
M E T H O D O L O G Y
Sustainable Technology
Technology plays an important role in the pursuit for sustainable living. Within Auroville, several
research institutes are continuously working on innovative processes to reduce energy and water use by
modifying and integrating new and existing technologies.
Solar Technology
Solar technology is widely used within the various communities and is the largest renewable source of
energy in Auroville. The most common application of solar technology is for water pumping, water
heating, street lighting, and in some cases electricity generation.
Solar Electricity
Some communities and buildings run completely on electricity produced by photovoltaic (PV) panels.
The PV systems used within Auroville are custom designed by Aurovillian groups, and integrate inverter
and battery storage systems for cloudy and rainy days. Currently, there are 400 houses running solely on
solar electricity within Auroville.
Solar Water Pumping and Heaters
Over 80% of the solar technology in Auroville is used for water pumping and heating. Many of the
operations for the waste water systems, and well/boreholes rely on this form of energy to move the water.
Aurovillian solar service and solution experts have formulated simple and low maintenance pumping and
heating systems.
Cost Estimation
A regular house consumption Consumption in Auroville
350 kWh/house 280 kWh/house
350kWh x 1700 houses 280kWh x 1700 houses
5,95,000 kWh Unit used 4,76,000 kWh Unit used
Rs. 42,50,000 by a colony in city Rs. 33,32,000 by a society in Auroville
Wastewater Technology
The Center for Scientific Research (CSR) has applied innovative methods to customize the available
wastewater technologies to fit the various Auroville community needs. The CSR wastewater systems
designs are based around tenets of simplicity, affordability, and need for minimal energy input.
To avoid the inefficiency and high cost of municipal wastewater management, the CSR has adopted
various techniques of Integrated Decentralized Waste Water Systems. The systems consist of underground
containment and pre-filtration tanks, and overhead oxygenating and polishing ponds. For commercial and
urban spaces that have little space for ponds, the institute has designed a cylindrical vortex system which
takes advantage of centrifugal and centripetal forces to filter and oxygenate the water. The resulting ‘gray’
water from the system may then be reinserted into the water table, or used for local irrigation purposes.
Another technology used for wastewater treatment is Effective Micro-organisms (EM). EM is an
organic liquid composed of microbes, which quicken the decomposition of waste and compose.
Electric Vehicle (EV) Technology
A large portion of the energy consumption in Auroville is spent on transporting people and goods. To
reduce their carbon footprint, and create a healthier natural environment, Auroville is looking to expand
the use of electric vehicles (small electric cars, electric bicycles and electric motorcycles).
There are various working components to successfully integrating electric vehicles into the community.
1. Central to the success of EV is the instalment of charging points at convenient locations throughout
the community.
2. Awareness campaigns around the advantages of EV over the currently used petrol motorcycles and
mopeds are also important for the successful implementation of the EVs.
Wind Technology
Windmills for pumping water have been designed and built in Auroville since the early pioneering
days. One of the first designs was the Cretan windmill, made of wood and cloth-sails.
The design has evolved from the practical experience of Aurovilians gained in operating windmills over
the last two decades. The AV55 can now be used for pumping water from bore wells as deep as 100m as
well as for low-lift high-volume output from open wells.Today, there are more than 30 windmills of
various designs spread over the Auroville plateau for pumping water.
Sustainable Design
Looking at design from a sustainable angle involves incorporating and utilizing the natural environment
into planning and design. Architects, planners and product designers within Auroville have centralized the
core of their innovations around sustainable design. Auroville shows a wide variety of earthen projects: public
buildings, schools, apartments and individual houses.
Most of the projects are built with compressed stabilised earth blocks (CSEB), as this technology benefits
of half a century of research and development worldwide. In Auroville, these blocks present many advantages
compared to fired bricks:
Walls made of CSEB are always cheaper than fired bricks.
The embodied energy is 15 times less than the bricks fired in the village.
The strength of these blocks is most of the time higher than the local fired bricks.
Stabilised rammed earth used for walls is slowly getting known and a few projects already implemented
this technique. There are also three other earth techniques used in Auroville. These techniques are very
marginally used as only 8 buildings have been built with them:
Raw rammed earth, for only two buildings.
Adobe blocks, the traditional sun dried mud brick, for two buildings.
Wattle and daub which is mud plastered on a wattle made of split bamboo or palmyra tree, for 4
buildings.
Through the endeavour of the Auroville earth Institute, Auroville attempts to revive the traditional
skills, which were lost during the 20th century and demonstrate that earth is still a noble building material,
which can be used for manifesting a modern, harmonious and progressive architecture.
MANAGEMENT OF RESOURCES
When building with earth, one should pay a lot of attention of the management of resources. Topsoil
should be scraped away, so as to be re-used for agriculture or gardens. One should always plan how the
excavation would be used afterward. A proper management of the earth resources can create a new and
harmonious balance between nature and the buildings, where each enriches and completes the other. Auroville
shows various possibilities for the use of quarries: as water harvesting ponds, waste water treatment ponds,
pools, basement floors or shallow Biological wastewater treatment depressions which are used for landscape
design, work or play areas, gardens, etc.
STABILISED RAMMED EARTH WALLS
This technique has been introduced in Auroville only in 1995, for the construction of Mirramukhi School, which
has been renamed as Deepanam School later on. A slipping type formwork has been designed and developed. The panels
are lifted up and the walls are built like piers walls. Our process is similar to the modern rammed earth system practiced
in USA or Australia, but adapted to the local context of a developing country. We ram by hand and we have developed
also some peripheral equipment.
Some sand is always added: 25 to 30 % according to the soil quality, so as to reduce shrinkage. Cement
percentage will vary with the soil quality, but in Auroville, they always use 5 % by weight of cement.
COMPRESSED STABILISED EARTH BLOCKS
A wide range of equipment for building with earth, the Auram equipment, has been researched and
developed from the very onset by the Auroville Earth Institute. It ranges from a press for compressed stabilised
earth blocks, quality control devices for block making, handling equipment, hand tools, scaffolding, to
rammed earth equipment. The Auram press 3000 is widely used multi mould manual press which can fit 16
moulds on it, for producing about 70 different types of blocks, with various shapes and thicknesses.
Wide variety of compressed stabilised earth blocks, by the Auram press 3000
CSEB made in Auroville with 5% cement, have an average dry compressive crushing strength of 50
kg/cm² (5 MPa) and a wet compressive crushing strength of 25 kg/cm². The water absorption is around 10%.
Country fired bricks have around 35 kg/cm² for the dry compressive strength and 12% water absorption.
Cost Effectiveness
CSEB are generally cheaper than fired bricks. This will vary from place to place and specially according to
the cement cost. The cost break down of a 5 % stabilised block will depend on the local context.
The strength of a block is related to the press quality and the compression force, and to the quantity of
stabiliser. This implies that to reduce the cost of a block one should try to reduce the quantity of cement but not the
cost of the labour with unskilled people. One should also not cut down the cost of the press with cheap quality
machines, which would not last and would not give strong blocks.
CSEB are generally cheaper than fired bricks. No plaster is needed in most of cases. Less mortar are required
and it’s cheaper. 5% of waste against 10% for country fired brick. Cost comparison per m2 of CSEB and fired brick
wall (Auroville, July 2012). CSEB wall 24 cm thick = 861 Rs/m2 . Country fired brick wall 23 cm thick = 1076 Rs/m2.
CSEB is a very labour intensive technology. It requires13 people per press for manual pressing. This gives job
opportunities and livelihood to people and also insure sustainability.
Energy Effectiveness
Compressed Stabilised Earth Blocks (CSEB) do not require as country fire blocks do. Around 100 tons of
wood burnt for 250,000 fired bricks. Studies have shown that building an m² of masonry with CSEB consumes 5 times
less energy than an m² of wire cut bricks masonry and 15 times less than country fired bricks!
The initial embodied energy of CSEB is in general less than other building materials. CSEB are environmental
friendly as:
No firing is required but only curing (4 weeks with cement stabilization).
Less transport is required and the production is manual.
CSEB consumes 10.7 less energy than country fired bricks. (Pondicherry)
CSEB consumes 7.9 less energy than country fired bricks. (India Average)
CSEB consumes 3.9 less energy than kiln fired bricks. (India Average)
Carbondioxide emissions are in general less than other building materials. They are mostly coming from cement
stabilization. Emits 12.5 times less carbondioxide than fired bricks (Pondy). 500 tons of wood burnt for 100,000
country fired bricks in Pondicherry area.
COMPARISON OF BUILDING MATERIALS IN AUROVILLE
The success of the Auroville experiment has highlighted the import of integration of all sectors and all levels of
planning and design for successful sustainable living. As the international community continues to intensify the
promotion of technology and processes to reduce anthropogenic carbon levels, and conserve natural resources, the
Auroville model presents a simple and innovative model for sustainability.
A top-down and bottom-up approach is essential for the successful implementation of sustainable living
practices in developing countries such as India. Effective top down policy should involve economic incentivizing for
green and renewable technologies as the current costs of these technologies dis-incentivize their adoption within rural
areas. Decentralized planning of community facilities such as water facilities, wastewater plants etc is also a more eco-
friendly approach to sustainability. Currently, in India there are very few and highly ineffective policies that encourage
sustainability within the rural communities. Institutions such as IFMR Trust can step in to advocate for more effective
policies for these communities.
An effective bottom-up approach must center on education of sustainability within the rural communities.
Without the appropriate understanding of the need, implications and benefits of sustainable practices and processes,
policies and projects are unlikely to be successful in the long-run. Social experimentation2 has shown that education
coupled with strategic social and emotional campaigns is an effective way of prompting behavioural change.
As global temperatures continues to warm, sea levels rise, and natural resources become even scarcer,
communities in rural India and the rest of the developing world are the most vulnerable to associated climatic change.
Sustainable development must therefore place modification of rural unsustainable practices at the top of political and
social agendas as failure to do so may lead to issues that have the propensity to accumulate into civil unrest and conflict.
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