Kurt Archer

Renewable action in practise before my eyes.

I had the pleasure of visiting Teri Gram estate today in Gurgaon, which is on the outskirts of Delhi. It is a project of The Energy and Research Institute (TERI) foundation, which began under the patronage of Ratan Tata in the 1970s. It is now under the leadership of Dr. Pauchauri, noble laureate winner for sustainability.

The campus is literally in the middle of nowhere, which symbolizes its removal from urban waste societies, but what a retreat it was indeed. Upon arrival, I was given an electronic car which resembled a CNG rickshaw, green in colour obviously. We passed by golf courses, cricket fields and lush vegetation. The retreat itself was a very modern design with high end facilities. Its primary source of light was from the sun, and it had no air-conditioning. In fact, this facility produces no waste.

I got a guided tour of the facility which began with looking at the structure itself, its energy efficient design, its use of wind-air ducts that run 4 meters below the earth and is cooled and shot up through the building with the use of fans. To complement this invention, warm air ducts run up the building so that when the cold air enters the room there is somewhere for the warm air to go. The idea first emerged in ancient Greece and is now something taught in elementary science – hot air rises! So why have contemporary builders not heard of this concept? Got me.

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