HUMANSCAPES HABITAT Applied research and demonstration project of Sustainable and Integrated Urban

Humanscapes is an 18,000-square-foot, net-positive energy, experimental housing complex located in Auroville, India. This mixed-use development of residences, community and workspaces besides being sustainable, addresses the issues of skill development and capacity building of construction labour, who are mostly distressed migrants in India to improve their economic condition and reduce construction waste in the habitat sector to meet India’s commitment to IPCC. This habitat project has integrated five goals as part of the sustainable human settlement program -

• Sustainable built environment with solar passive building design
• Integrated environmental planning of water, energy and waste cycle
• The human ecology, using the principles of the “Cohousing” concept of living for inclusive socio-economic development with increased environmental benefits.
• Establish a collaborative network of knowledge resources called ‘SustaiNet’, to facilitate further dissemination.

About the speaker:
Suhasini Ayer – Guigan heads the “Auroville Design Consultants”, a planning and architectural design studio, primarily focused on planning, designing and implementing the applied research development projects within Auroville to field test the innovations and research carried by CSR and other organisations within Auroville. She is also the co-founder of “Auroville Centre for Scientific Research (CSR)” Trust; a collaborative organisation with multiple agents and agencies working in the area of applied research in sustainable settlement planning, solar passive architecture, appropriate building materials and technologies, water and waste management and renewable energy.

This webinar is part of the ‘NZEB Knowledge Series’ – an initiative supported by USAID’s MAITREE program (http://maitree.edsglobal.com) to accelerate the discussions and catalyse actions on Net Zero Energy Buildings in India.