1. Kanubhai Karkare’s Amreli home An officer in the education department, Kanubhai Karkare designed and built his house in the year 2000 with a mere sum of Rs 2.8 lakh. The house has an underground tank that stores rainwater up to 2,000-litre. Additionally, the house has a 3KW solar power unit that fulfils all the power needs of the house.

2.  Madhusudhan Joshi’s Goa residence Fully-powered by solar energy using a unique hybrid system, Joshi’s house is a great example of sustainable living. Unlike usual solar systems, in the hybrid system, the energy from the sun is first stored in a battery. If there is any surplus, it is sold to the government for a fee.

3. Vishwanath’s Bengaluru abode The two-storeyed, eco-friendly house is full of different eco-friendly installations that minimise the wastage of natural resources. Besides rainwater harvesting and solar power, the two toilets do not use any water. The waste is covered in ash and the bacteria in it convert the waste into manure used to maintain their terrace garden.

4. Rajesh and Vallari Shah’s Bengaluru green home Rajesh and Vallari Shah built a green home that has 18 solar panels that power the house. Not a single drop of water is wasted in their home. They utilise their greywater to water their terrace garden and lawn.

5.  Snehal Patel’s conscious Surat home Snehal Patel, a Surat-based mechanical engineer, built a house that has solar panels and RWH. A unique feature of the house is that it doesn’t have any sewage connection and reuses water from the bathrooms (washbasins and bathing area).

An effective root zone filtration system has been set up using sand and plants like hyacinths, duckweed, and water lettuce. These plants help in cleaning the water. The blackwater from the toilets goes into settling tanks.

6. Amrutha Kishor’s house in Kottayam This Mangalore-tiled roof bungalow is inspired by Travancore’s traditional architecture with free-flowing spaces and grand windows. A unique feature of the house is that a wind tower is constructed on a physics principle called ‘stack effect’ alongside the staircase. The concept uses temperature differences to move air. Hot air rises because of its low-pressure characteristics keeping the house naturally cool even on hot summer days. 

7. Veena Lal’s mud house in Faridabad Veena’s 1,800 sq ft sustainable mud house consumes very little energy and has no water connections reducing wastage. The outer part of the house is layered with sun-baked bricks and mud which keep it cool naturally. The house also uses a dry toilet with no usage of water or flushing.

8. Balasunda Kaushikan, Zero-waste house Balasunda Kaushikan, a Bengaluru-based architect, built his dream house on the concept of zero-wastage. The home saves 70 percent of energy every month by using methods such as a biodigester to convert human waste into water that is used in gardening.