Courtesy : timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Green affordable housing
With the rising environmental concern, the green endeavors of housing furnaces a deep link between the well-being of people and environmental sustainability. Many realty developers have initiated the process of integrating core social and economic values of affordable housing development.
Challenges of housing and opportunities for affordable housing
One of the critical issues facing communities all over India is the lack of safe, decent, and affordable housing. With a steady rise in demand for housing in urban as well as suburban areas, developers are constructing residential houses for people with low-income men, women, and families to find a nest to live in. A general definition of affordability is to pay not more than 30 percent to rent or loan of their income.
Affordability is accomplished by setting a doable monthly mortgage payment in accordance with the resident’s income, rather than at market rates. Some of the most common types of affordable housing are:
· Rental housing for very low to low-moderate income individuals and families.
· Housing for people with special physical health needs.
· Making a case of green housing with affordability in mind.
· Housing for seniors
· “Sweet-equity” or self-help homes
Affordable housing developers depend on a variety of financial programs administered by central and state governments. There are other public agencies and financial institutions to give impetus to affordable housing. The help in affordable housing comes in the form of tax credits, debt with preferential rates or terms, and loan guarantees.
What is a Green and Affordable Building?
Green building is a part of an infrastructural endeavor where the emphasis is on minimizing the use of resources, creating healthier living environments for people and reducing the impacts on the local ecosystem.
Presently, developers and people are in general not too aware of green projects. However, the data shows that the construction and operation of affordable housing projects consume a great number of resources, resulting in a negative impact on the environment.
The annual impacts of building construction and operation in India include the following:
· 40 percent of India’s energy use
· More than 30 percent of carbon dioxide production
· More than 40 percent of wood and raw materials
· More than 30 percent of water usage
· 20 percent of solid waste
The Benefits of Green Building to Affordable Housing
There are three principal components that play in the sustainability issue.
a) Economics
b) Social equity
c) Environment
Affordable housing is a part of sustainability and addresses two components: economics and social equity. Traditionally environment is not integrated into the affordability of housing, though in the long run it will help the developers and customers alike
. Direct benefits of green building include utility cost savings, healthier living environments, and increased durability.
. Energy and water savings help low-income residents to shift financial resources to higher-priority items such as nutritional food, proper healthcare, education, etc.
· Less direct benefits of green affordable housing include such as solid waste management through construction waste recycling programs or use of recycled-content materials.
· Affordable housing developers are able to use a long-term lifecycle approach to design, which is one of the core tenets of green buildi
Being able to look at benefits over the long term gives affordable housing developers the unique opportunity to view the full range of green building strategies and their associated benefits in a comprehensive way in order to focus on those that are the best fit for the developer, the residents, the community, and
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I have been working in the real estate sector for long and gained certain expertise. I would like to share real estate news with my readers and make them understand the nuances of the industry. As a personal level, I am also a student of psychology and avid readers of philosophy. I feel a peculiar connection between psychology and marketing. My interest in psychology helps me a lot in marketing strategies and I also want to express those in my blogs
LIFESTYLE
A special Vat Purnima……
Aparna Ganesh Patil @ThoughtstothinkJUN 25, 2021, 14:40 IST
Vat Purnima
This is one of the holy traditions followed by married females especially in Maharashtra, where we offer prayers to a Banyan Tree (Vat/Vad in marathi) for the long life of our husband.
Generally, we fast on this auspicious day and take seven rounds around the sacred tree dropping water at its roots.
It is believed that in ancient times Savitri could bring back to life her dying husband after offering her sincere prayers to this pious tree. As a child for me this tradition was very mesmerising as I could see my lovely mom in the best of her attire decked up with all her Maharashtrian jewellery specially the shining Laxmi haar with a Nath (traditional nose ring) …. Wow……that simplicity which blushed her own beauty!
All of us siblings, together would accompany her to the nearby Gaondevi Mandir (Local deity temple) and just wait for the tempting Fruit platter on a leaf known as “Vaan”. I can still recall those flavours.
There is one more traditional way of performing this pooja, which my grandmother in law use to follow. Decades ago she used to perform this ritual by making a rangoli of banyan tree ( Vat/Vad) , a perfect eco-friendly method.
After marriage I continued this tradition as a legacy with absolute faith. For the last 15 years I have performed this Pooja, but this year it was really special. I lost my mother two years back, she had planted a Tulsi sapling in her open terrace. A few days back we could see a small sapling blooming in full swing, to our surprise it was a Banyan sapling. It had just started growing with a bang from nowhere. I could see my mother’s shadow in it as if she is blessing us from heaven through it.
Today I performed my Vat Purnima pooja at my mom’s place and offered my prayers to this very tiny banyan sapling and believe me, nothing can be so precious. Moments to cherish for life time.
Vat Purnima….
This is one of the holy traditions followed by married females especially in Maharashtra, where we offer prayers to a Banyan Tree (Vat/Vad in marathi) for long life of our husband. Generally, we fast on this auspicious day and take seven rounds around the holy tree dropping water at its roots as well……
It is believed that in ancient times Savitri could bring back to life her dying husband after offering her sincere prayers to this pious tree. As a child for me this tradition was very mesmerising as I could see my lovely mom in the best of her attire decked up with all her Maharashtrian jewellery specially the shining Laxmi haar with a Nath (traditional nose ring) …. Wow……that simplicity which blushed her own beauty!
We all siblings together would accompany her to the nearby Gaondevi Mandir (Local deity temple) and just wait for the tempting Fruit platter on a leaf called “Vaan”……. I can still smell those flavours
There is one more traditional way of performing this pooja, which my Grand mother in law used to follow…decades ago she used to perform this ritual by making a rangoli of banyan tree ( Vat/Vad) ….a perfect eco friendly method….thoughts and deeds ahead of time….
After marriage even I started continuing this tradition ahead as a legacy with absolute faith, from last 15 years I perform this Pooja, but this year it was really special. I lost my mother two years back. She had planted a Tulsi sapling in her open terrace. Few days back we could see a small sapling blooming in full swing. To our surprise it was a Banyan sapling. It had just started growing with a bang from nowhere. I could see my mother’s shadow in it as if she is blessing us from heaven through it.
Today I performed my Vat Purnima pooja at my mom’s place and offered my prayers to this very tiny banyan sapling and believe me nothing can be so precious. Moments to cherish for a life time.
