This Indian start-up’s super sustainable, solar-powered home is what the world needs more of!
Cityrene is a Chennai-based sustainable construction startup founded in 2016, by Dilipan Bose and A Nivethitha. The duo are civil engineers and design engineers on a mission to design and construct sustainable and resilient homes.
Cityrene offers two home models to potential clients – The first model is for a ‘Basic Economical Home,’ where the house is built using eco-friendly technology and comes with features like wastewater recycling, rainwater harvesting and an organic terrace garden.
The second model is for a ‘Self-sustainable home,’ which includes a solar set up for electricity, a device named ‘Water from Air’ which generates drinking water from the air, and a bio-digester for wastewater recycling.
“The bio-digester is buried underground and is an effective replacement for conventional septic tanks and STPs. It uses live bacteria to recycle wastewater instead of chemicals and electricity, is eco-friendly and also maintenance-free,” says Dilipan.
Cityrene uses modern building materials and technology in their building processes like the GFRG and Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) blocks. AAC blocks are made using fly ash, a by-product in the industrial sector, which makes it eco-friendly and compared to the conventional red bricks, they are much lighter. AAC blocks are also more durable and easy to manage, which helps in hastening the construction process.
Cityrene also sets up organic terrace gardens for the homeowners so that they can eat the food they grow, informs Dilipan.
In future, Dilipan says, “I want to build a self-sustaining township of 100 villas. The township will be completely solar-powered, practice rainwater harvesting, and have wastewater recycling units. Government power and water supply will only be backup options. Imagine if we do this. Wouldn’t it be a great example for builders across the country?”