Green is the new dream: Total Environment architect

Kamal Sagar, CEO and principal architect of Total Environment, talks about the benefits of having a green home in Bangalore…

Tell us a little bit about Total Environment?
Total Environment is a group of architects and builders who design and build custom and ready to move in houses. Customers usually face a problem when they move into their house when they have no furniture, but we provide our customers completely furnished houses. We also try our best to use green products in our projects. We use green roofs which are basically used for rainwater harvesting. These roofs store and reuse water for later use. We also employ many other components to reduce carbon footprints in their projects.

Vaastu plays an important role while constructing a house. What is your take on this?
People are always concerned about vaastu when they look for houses; in fact, the homes we make are also vaastu compliant. We build different sizes of houses and it is not possible to make the same design for every other house. We need to be careful on how we go about it and how well we use vaastu shastra. But one thing is for certain; no matter how big or small the house is, basic amenities must be in good working condition.

People tend to listen to vaastu consultants and make necessary changes. Is that the right way to go about it?
In India, a lot of people are taken for a ride by these so called “vaastu consultants”. They have very little knowledge about vaastu shastra and they use the same rules for every house. Vaastu differs depending on the surroundings and the people who inhabit the house. These so called vaastu consultants invoke fear in people by saying negative things about their house and people worry when something negative is said. They spend a huge sum of money on these vaastu consultants who barely have any knowledge about vaastu.

Many people give too much importance to the exteriors, damaging the inside of the house. How do you tackle the problem?
It is all about retaining positive energy and keeping negative energy out of the home. Bringing in natural light and creating space to achieve these positive energies is very important. Many architects try to achieve different shapes by working from the outside first which leads to tarnishing the inside of the home. But we at Total Environment treat the construction of both the inside and the outside as a single process.

Your projects are known for their designs. What is the USP of the company?
We provide good designs allowing lots of natural light into the house and creating meaningful space inside the house, A living room which over looks the courtyard brings in a lot of light into the house, thus creating positive energy; whereas a living room which is enclosed and has a small window and overlooks a bathroom, creates negative energy.

Can you tell us some of the basic products that can be replaced with eco - friendly products?
All the projects that Total Environment undertakes aim to provide homes with world class amenities by causing minimum damage to the environment. Some of the products that can be replaced with eco-friendly products are:

Flush walls: These flush tanks are connected to the overhead tank directly. Thus, depending on the pressure, a lot of water is wasted. These flush walls can be replaced with other green products which use only about 6-8 litres of water to flush out the toilet.

Taps: Taps on the washbasins are generally left open till one is done washing their hands thoroughly, which results in wastage of water. But a ceramic device is available for Rs50 which controls the flow of water. Customers can save up to 300 litres of water by using this.

Occupancy sensor: This is a sensor which detects any movement in the room and automatically switches the lights on/off. These sensors costs any where around Rs1,500-2,000.