Green Idea Lab

The Green Idea Lab (GIL) is the Design, Consulting and Research wing of Bangalore based eco – construction major named Biodiversity Conservation India Ltd. (BCIL). In the year 2008, BCIL has launched the Green Idea Lab, its Research and Innovation wing for commercial purpose. GIL has an experience of 14 years as the research arm of BCIL and has even managed a few projects for BCIL in the role of a Project Management Company (PMC). Also, it has an experience of designing one million square feet area as green and sustainable architecture. In fact, GIL has mostly tested its new innovations on most of the building projects of BCIL.

The primary agenda of GIL is “Mainstreaming sustainability”. It promotes sustainable living on large scale. Its another aim is to bring cost efficiency, both, at the capital expenditure stage, as well as critically, in the running costs of the buildings after occupancy. GIL promises to develop buildings that are durable and user friendly on maintenance.

With the commercial launch of GIL, it will now spun into a ‘Green Business Enterprise’. GIL offers wide spectrum of services that includes - design and consulting services to individuals and organizations, so that they can adopt complete sustainability in their construction and allied projects. Advices which are offered to the home-owners includes choosing of the contractor, building materials, fittings and fixtures; cost estimates; ideas on aesthetics and interiors and on intelligent gadgets that could make a home more efficient.

GIL helps to achieve efficiencies in energy, water and waste. GIL's solutions in case of air and energy management includes HVAC systems that use non-ODS refrigerants and even has fresh air modes that offer air management without refrigerants. It has also developed A/C systems and designed noiseless ventilation units powered by renewable energy systems, indoor and outdoor lighting, choosing energy technology (solar, wind, bio-mass).

GIL also offers solutions in Water Management such as Water Harvesting, Storage and distribution, Treatment and re-use of waste water. In case of waste management, it offers advices like Segregation, Re-cycling, Re-use and Disposal, Biomass Planning: including Ground Level Landscaping, Upper Level Greens, Land and Microclimate Assessment, Intelligent and Automated Systems.

GIL services are also available to fellow builders and developers of BCIL. All builders and developers who want to include sustainable technology practices in their buildings can use GIL as a partner. These builders can outsourced their entire architectural design and drawing services to GIL. It can completely design the service cores of building and also build it. GIL can even add valuable inputs on issues like building materials, the building envelope and the aesthetics at the planning stage of the project.

It is believed that within 3 to 4 years, GIL will develop more innovative technologies such as automatic humidity control systems, data logger to continuously monitor humidity, automatic CO2 monitor logger and controller, respiratory suspended particle monitoring and alert system, temperature comfort zone, control monitoring logging system, technique for continuous monitoring and logging of water utilization at various flow points, technique for continuous water quality monitoring, energy utilization and pattern analysis at various utilization points, energy efficiency analysis and conservation recommendation system, technique to identify and examine renewable energy applications, technique to provide a visual comfort monitoring system and mapping of utilization with energy needs in the building.

And with the help of these new innovations, GIL will impact investments worth Two Billion Dollars on Green Buildings and Innovative Building Management Systems in India. GIL is likely to benefit sustainable buildings and envelopes of up to three million sq. ft, helping them excel beyond architecture into effective resource management.

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Commonwealth Games Delhi 2010 - A Threat to Common Wealth

For the first time in the history of sports, India is going to host Common Wealth Games in the year 2010.

New Delhi, capital of India, has grabbed the opportunity to host this multisports prestigious events from 3rd October to 14th October.

Delhi government has constructed and renovated the sporting venues all over the city and has also spent loads of money to beautify the city. A game village is under construction which will provide accommodation to elite athletes and sports authorities of 85 participating nations.

Common Wealth Games 2010 which is a matter of pride for our country, has immense potential to effect the tourism industry of India. Even the Delhi government's Department of Environment, Forest and Wildlife has asked their concerned authorities to highlight the Delhi's policy of preserving the nature in a big way through their latest masterpieces. But the ground reality is different.

To renovate various buildings and to strengthen the transport system and roadways, a large number of deforestation has already being taken place. Many “heritage” trees of Delhi are either axed down or shifted to some other places. Transplantation of such big trees are not at all fruitful. Due to such heavy construction works, Delhi has lost all its green covering and green spacing.

Another major impact of 2010's Common Wealth Games on Delhi's environment will be permanent. The Games Village is being constructed on the floodplains of river Yamuna and thereby would be having adverse affect on Delhi's ecosystem.

Already due to excessive water pollution Yamuna river has lost all its glory and turned into a dirty drain. And it is for sure that with the construction of this Games Village on the river bank, right opposite to the Akshardham Temple would increase the probability of floods in Delhi. Its construction has reduced the floodplain area which is responsible for controlling the floods of river Yamuna.

Also Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is trying to build some new buildings on the occasion of Common Wealth Games 2010 based on the concept of the “Green building”. That is utilizing the techniques of energy and water harvesting, without realizing the fact that these construction works would imbalance the ecosystem and create threat for very existence of Delhi city.

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Tiger Census Helped In Conservation

Tiger census programme was undertaken by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) with the help of a team of 88,000 forest staff and 50 field biologists. This huge team was led by Y.V. Jhala, senior faculty member and a carnivore biologist. A Tiger census report was prepared on the basis of this research work, till date this research is regarded as the biggest in the world. According to this research, number of Tigers in the country's protected area are between 1,165 to 1,657. This tiger census report is very significant as it provides vital information regarding the rapid depletion of Tiger through poaching and habitat loss.

In this research work, GPS mapping of Tiger signs in PAs supported by ''camera trapping'' was used to estimate population and density of Tiger . At first a group of researchers sampled a subset of those area where the the tiger population is more. Robust statistical approaches like mark-recapture and distance sampling to estimate absolute densities of tigers and their prey. Covariate information was generated using remotely sensed data and attribute data using GPS. Some other methods to count the number of tigers are the pugmark, DNA analysis, biometric data analysis, block counting, radio collaring, digital pugmark, prey base indicators, etc. The cheapest or most cost effective method remains the pugmark technique.

This research not only helped in scientific assessment of the Tigers but also it helped in documentation of its habitat loss. javascript:void(0)Tiger presence and Tiger numbers are the two major qualifiers of habitat conservation. According to Rajesh Gopal, secretary of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), the main reason behind the depletion of Tiger in India is the loss of habitat and the poaching.

So, to increase the strength of Tiger in India it is necessary to protect the habitat of these wild cat. Tigers are mostly found in those areas where there is minimum human impacts or low human disturbances. In India, there are only four healthy Tiger landscapes, with ‘inter connectivity and inviolate’ corridors can offer long term sustenance of the Tiger. Till date, only 20 - 25 corridor linkages have been drawn up for the four identified tiger landscapes based on the conservation recommendations.

On the basis of the research, P.R.Sinha, Director of the WII, has suggested that all the state governments should prepare action plans in accordance with the conservation recommendations for the four main Tiger landscapes of India.

This census has enabled conservators to see both the woods and the trees in the vast sub-continent. Also helps to reveal that the prey base in these forest areas are in good numbers, which in turn reflects the healthy Tiger numbers as well as sound ecosystem.

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Ten Solar Power Gadgets

With the advancement of technology, human beings have become dependable on gadgets or devices to solve daily needs. Everyday , we use so many gadgets which requires varied source of energy to function. Most of these devices or gadgets used in daily work run on electric energy.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme, annually appliances produces twenty to fifty million metric tons of electronic wastage. And to reduce the amount of electric energy wastage, scientists are looking forward to use solar energy to run various gadgets.

Nowadays scientists have developed some of the coolest solar power gadgets which has become talk of the town and loved by all environment lovers. Solar powered gadgets are everywhere now, and the ways solar power is incorporated into gizmos is fun to follow.

Some Solar Power Gadgets are:

1. Solar Powered Tent:- The solar powered tent has its own solar panel and integrated interior LEDs. The solar panels independently charges batteries and 4-6 hours of direct light are enough to produce 2-4 hours tent light. There mainly two version of the tents. One having the capacity of 4-person and another having the capacity of 6 person.

2. Sunflower Solar Power Station:-It is a new and powerful home and office equipment. It has a solar powered music system. In this device electricity is generated with the help of solar energy through three built in standard sockets. The top solar panel receives solar energy during day time and the rechargeable solar batteries keep the appliances working throughout the night.

3. Voltaic Solar Backpack:- Voltaic Solar Backpack is very useful during business trips and campings. This solar backpack has several pockets and wire channels to keep and charge the
electronic devices like cell phones, PDA's and handheld GPS, mp3. It has a Li Ion battery charger that stores excess power from sunny days for charging when the durable, water and scratch-proof solar panels don’t get enough of sun rays. It has three solar panels which operates independently to generate 4 watts of power. It has a set of 11 standard adaptors to charge other devices and a car lighter adapter.

4. Solar Attic Fan:- It is a compact, simple and environment friendly fan that is powered completely by solar energy. It is constructed of .080 (14 gauge) aluminum. It has a hardware made up of stainless steel and a animal protection screen made up of stainless steel. It is also coated with powder to withstand any environment. This solar attic fan reduces the temperature of attic, save stress on the cooling system, conserves power, and saves your money.

5. Solar Panel Sun Glasses:- These sunglasses has the ability to trap the solar energy and than convert it into electric energy. So that it can charge the small hand held devices through the power jack at the back of the frame. This Gadget is very useful. It protects from sun tanning, also helps to listen iPod. Just Zap these glasses on and start charging your iPod.

6. Voltaic Generator Solar Laptop Charger:- Voltaic Generator Solar Laptop Charger is a more efficient version of freeloader solar charger. It is the first of its kind. It has enough power to charge a laptop. This gadget has high-efficiency cells and also includes a battery pack that is custom designed to store and convert the electricity generated more efficiently. It is also useful in charging cell phones and other hand held electronics.

7. Solar Under Ground Pest Deterrent:-It is an environment friendly pest deterrent powered by an integrated solar panel that helps to bring out underground pests like moles, voles, and gophers without any complicated set up or external power. On putting the waterproof anodized aluminum spike on the ground, it emits sonic vibrations every 30 seconds that irritate burrowing pests and compel them to split up.

8. Solar Hanging Lights and Lanterns:- As the name reflects Solar Hanging Lights and lanterns runs with the help of solar energy. These Solar Hanging Lights are made of the highest quality materials and utilize the latest LED Lighting technology for maximum brightness, and extra long run times. These lights creates a wonderful Victorian Lantern effects as well as provides additional functionality for ground placement, table placement or it can simply remove from the solar lantern from the hook and can be hang any where.

9. Freeloader Solar Charger:- If you want to take your gadgets during trips. Than you must require the Solar Powered Portable charger. This Freeloader solar charger is an advanced portable charging system that can power any hand held mobile device anywhere. Once charged, Freeloaders internal battery can power an iPod for 18 hours, a mobile phone for 44 hours, PSP for 2.5 hours and a PDA for 22 hours.

10. Power purse:- Jo Hynek,a doctoral student has designed the "Power Purse" . It puts function over form. It is a fashion-friendly gadget, which is covered with solar panels. It is designed to charge all the mobile accessories such as cell phones, mp3 players, etc.

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