According to the journal ‘Cities and Climate Change: An Urgent Agenda’, cities consume as much as 80 percent of energy production worldwide and account for a roughly equal share of global greenhouse gas emissions. At this juncture of rising global warming, it is crucial to rethink and reshape the way our cities are built. 

The SCAD Eco-housing project is an initiative to introduce eco-friendly alternative building techniques to the people of Tirunelveli and build capacity of the local workforce in these methods. On a macro-level, the project aims to change the fundamentals of the building industry in Tirunelveli and steer them towards an eco-friendly and sustainable future. 

In collaboration with URBED Trust and SCAD group of institutions, UDC designed and built an eco-friendly guest house in the SCAD campus, Tirunelveli that serves as a flagship model to showcase sustainable alternatives to conventional concrete-heavy construction methods. The project also built capacity for the local workforce in these techniques, which was further passed on to civil engineering students in the campus through hands-on workshops. 

Upon competition of the Eco-house, UDC also co-conducted a forum in Tirunelveli that facilitated a dialogue between urban planning/design experts and over 100 SCAD students about shaping the future of Tirunelveli and its surrounds. 

Project team: Vidhya Mohankumar, Abinaya Rajavelu, Srivardhan Rajalingham, Sivagami Periannan

Project partners: Urbed Trust, SCAD group of institutions and Studio Tyto