Kerala Couple’s Mud Home in the Midst of Nature is Sustainability at its Best!

Energy efficient and self-sustaining, ‘Navanu’ was built on 960 square feet, with mud walls encompassing a spacious bedroom, living room, kitchen, hall and a working station. An incredible feat of innovative architecture, even in the midst of a scalding summer, the house now remains cool despite not having any fans or coolers. The mud walls trap the warmth of the sun, keeping the inside temperature cosy during the night and as the sun sets, the cool winds take over. There is no power connection in the house either. Instead, the couple opted for a solar power source of energy for whatever little electrical devices they may own, enabling them to use the stored energy during the night. Hari and Asha’s food is mostly taken from their own gardens and front yard, but they don’t till nor fertilise their crops, preferring to let them grow in their own natural time, and with a very interesting cooling mechanism in place for storage, there is no wastage here.

They created their own system of refrigeration by digging a shallow pit, of sorts, on a patch of land in their kitchen. Lined with bricks, a mud pot was placed inside and surrounded by sand which from time is time is dampened to keep the pot cool–this entire mechanism manages to keep food fresh for at least a week.
via homegrown