What makes a building sustainable? What are the materials that go into building a house with low carbon footprint? How can this carbon footprint be further reduced? These were some of the questions that ACC set out to answer while launching its “Houses of Tomorrow”, an initiative that seeks to promote construction through materials that are less resource intensive, have a low carbon footprint, while promoting customer satisfaction.
As part of this initiative—spearheaded by ACC’s parent company, the global cement major Holcim Group—houses or tenements built with materials that have near-zero carbon footprint are showcased. The first such project in India, named “Gratitude Eco-Villa”, is located in Puducherry. Designed by Architect Trupti Doshi, a well-known sustainability professional, the project uses materials, climate specific passive design, and smart construction methodologies to create a holistically sustainable house while enhancing the comfort of the residents.
Every construction material has a carbon footprint as some amount of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide is emitted during their manufacture. And “Gratitude Eco-Villa” has shown that it can reduce CO₂ emissions by nearly 40% through the use of materials such as ECOPact green concrete, ACC Suraksha cement, fly-ash bricks and low-CO₂ alternative to virgin steel reinforcements. Through the “Houses of Tomorrow”, ACC seeks to align the construction sector with where the Earth is collectively headed to: a low-carbon future that consumes fewer resources and promote the circular economy by making the most out of existing materials.
Neeraj Akhoury, CEO India Holcim, said “Our vision for ACC and Ambuja Cements is to make sustainable construction accessible to all in India and not just in the domain of the infrastructure and commercial buildings. Our ‘Houses of Tomorrow’ will help us inspire future generations to adopt green products and sustainable solutions.”
Trupti Doshi, principal architect of The Auroma Architecture, Puducherry, said “This initiative is an opportunity to respond to the planet’s needs for building a sustainable future. At Gratitude EcoVilla, Holcim & ACC helped by specifying the right green building materials and calculating their impact on the environment.”
