Scientists at a British company, Ceravision, have developed an alternative light bulb which has an energy efficiency of 50% (compared to 5% for incandescents and 15% for fluorescent tubes). As if that’s not enough, this bulb should last for decades and doesn’t contain mercury either. I can’t say I fully understand the technicalities but it [...]
I’ve always been interested in LED lighting and, while it is making great strides towards becoming a highly efficient artificial light source, the lowly tube-light is still the least power-hungry domestic lighting source you can find; it just beats its newer counterparts - the compact fluorescents.
And if anyone still thinks incandescent lights aren’t all that [...]
Solar pipes are not new but they usually employ fibre optics which makes them cost more than many people are willing to shell out. This system, on the other hand uses highly reflective pipes instead and, if it is anything like it should, technically, be, it might do a lot to reduce our consumption of [...]
This may not be great dinner-table conversation but simply separating urine from excreta can make a huge difference to how we approach the issue of human waste. Wost Man Ecology, a firm run by Swedish farmer Ingvar-Nilsson, makes separating toilets that are now selling all across the world. Essentially, the urine can be directly used [...]
As bamboo makes its way into the building industry mainstream, this article questions whether it is always as green as it’s made out to be. We need a neutral body to certify the processes involved in growing and manufacturing bamboo products.
Full Article: Bamboo in Construction: Is the Grass Always Greener?
When I read the advertisement in a trade magazine, I was happy to see more competition in the field but, when I headed over to the Godrej site, I found nothing that looked even remotely like this news. A Google search led me to a 404 (page not found) error and it took some hunting [...]
We all know about Polaroid glass - it’s been around for ages. But this is a new one for me at least and has greater potential because the level of transparency/opacity is controlled by the user and not by ambient light.
SPD smart window is constructed by using two panes of glass separated by a conductive [...]
Got a call from a client for whom I’d designed an office exactly 5 years ago. He’s purchased new premises in one of the old buildings near Fountain (Hutatma Chowk) and it has a ceiling that’s 16 feet (5m) high! The space is just a plain old rectangle but the arches on the sides add [...]
I received an invitation to a Trade Show at Bandra-Kurla complex and thought it might be a good idea to take a client and my contractor along since a few things needed to be finalised at a particular interior design site.
I was aghast when they wanted to charge my companions Rs. 100 each to enter. [...]
The clients at the Churchgate apartment want to box-grill all the balconies in their premises. They live on a lower floor and feel that it could be unsafe. Technically it is possible of course, but I’m quite against it. Apart from the fact that I think it will look [...]