Discover sustainable living with a Bengaluru couple eco-friendly home, featuring natural materials, solar power, and innovative technologies for a harmonious connection to nature.

Namma Bengaluru, once known as the Garden City, has transformed into a bustling IT hub, marked by rapid technological advancements and expanding concrete landscapes. While the city progress is undeniable, it comes with its challenges. The fast-paced growth, driven by technology, is only sustainable as long as we remain in harmony with Mother Nature. In recent years, the impact of this urbanization has become evident, with tree cutting and other environmental concerns highlighting the cost of unchecked development.

While everyone dreams of owning a home in Bengaluru, complete with modern amenities and greenery, few consider the environmental toll their choices have.

Drawing inspiration from the simple living styles of rural hill areas and their desire for a more fulfilling life in Delhi, Reva and Ranjan Malik made the decision to embrace a minimalist, sustainable, and eco-friendly lifestyle.

Imagine waking up to the soft warmth of sunlight pouring through expansive windows, enjoying meals powered by solar energy, and nurturing a flourishing garden with 40 varieties of organic produce — all within a solar-powered home built to coexist with nature. This is the reality for Bengaluru-based couple Reva and Ranjan Malik, whose eco-friendly home demonstrates how a minimalist, low-impact lifestyle can be both elegant and practical.

The Maliks 770-square-foot residence stands as a tribute to the potential of natural materials and innovative, resource-efficient technologies. Constructed with stabilized mud, terracotta, and recycled components, the house maximizes energy efficiency, minimizing its ecological footprint at every step.

Since we are talking about mud houses, I will take you through the detailing of how the house is built using naturally available materials like mud, gravel, chalk and limestone. The commercial construction sector currently uses the construction method with the lowest environmental impact of all the techniques.

The roof, designed with rammed earth and Mangalorean tiles, slopes at a 30-degree angle to capture rainwater, naturally cool the interior in the summer, and enhance the homes environmental sustainability. Additionally, the mud-concrete foundation replaces conventional cement, ensuring the structure is earthquake-resistant while maintaining eco-friendly integrity.

The couple home thrives with minimal reliance on external resources. Without a municipal water connection, they have never experienced a water shortage, thanks to an underground rainwater harvesting system that stores up to 10,000 litres.

There are no electric lights or fans in the house. Instead, large windows and open spaces flood the interiors with natural light and promote airflow, ensuring a comfortable atmosphere year-round. Reva and Ranjan follow a circadian rhythm, waking with the sunrise and relying on oil lamps in the evening. Their use of electricity is limited to charging their electric vehicle, making their lifestyle nearly self-sufficient and entirely off-grid.

The couple uses a traditional terracotta fridge to store food, which naturally maintains a cool 8-10°C without the need for electricity, ensuring their food stays fresh in an energy-efficient way. They also recycle greywater to nourish their thriving organic garden, where they grow a variety of produce, such as tomatoes, spinach, papayas, and bottle gourds.

The couple does not rely on gas cylinders for cooking; instead, they use a stove that aligns with their eco-friendly lifestyle. The house is designed without taps to minimize water wastage. Instead, they have installed small hand pumps, and the water collected from these pumps is repurposed for their garden, ensuring efficient water usage for nurturing their plants.

Looking to the future, Reva and Ranjan are working towards achieving complete energy self-sufficiency. With solar panels already meeting most of their daily energy needs, their home serves as a powerful example of how mindful, intentional choices can reduce our environmental impact while fostering a deeper connection with the natural world.

Edited by Gayathri