Virtually Yours

The concept of eco-friendly electronically savvy homes are making waves in the Indian realty arena due to its distinct features, Rai Umraopati Ray reports

I very distinctly remember the 'tales' that my cousins from US used to convey to me on their frequent visits to India. From popular take-aways, to hip-hop music, we were alien to all. But as years passed and our good old country zoomed the western way, almost everything they used to talk became a part of our surroundings, the latest addition to which is the concept of eco-friendly electronically savvy homes popularly known as Smart Homes or E-Homes.
How many days have you passed in office worrying whether you had switched-off the geyser in the morning after your bath?? Or tensed whether your kids will be able to handle the gas aptly or not? Well, electronically savvy homes are the answer to all your queries and worries. Not only new, but a very unique concept in the housing industry in India, E-Homes is better understood as web-enabled houses that gives you the advantage and freedom to operate and handle your home even while being away from it.
Explains J.K. Jain, CMD Design Arch, which has launched two residential projects in Vaishali and Greater Noida on the same lines, "The concept of E-homes usually involves four components namely eco-friendly features, electronically savvy, earthquake resistant and entertainment. It is a complete package that aims at making life easy for our residents. From working on green buildings to technology integration to water and energy conservation, both the projects have unique features like foam concrete block that reduces the weight on the structure by 50 per cent so that the building is better equipped during an earthquake, energy efficient water and fire pump, water recycling plant, UPVC German windows etc."
By simply using your mobile or laptop or the touch screen panel if in the house, you get to know whether your air con, iron or any other electronic item is safely switched off or not, you can keep the tab on the gas being used and can also switch it on/off from where you are sitting. Draw your curtains to let the sunshine seep in or switch off the fridge when the electricity bids goodbye. So, even in the away mode, you have complete control over your apartment through your cell phone or laptop from anywhere in the world. You would instantly receive a message if there is a fire or water leakage or somebody has entered your house. Not only this, you would also get the pictures of all the visitors recorded for your access.
Keeping the hectic lifestyle of the urban populace in mind, Indian builders are also slowly and steadily treading into this segment of housing. From mere talks to sketch-board plans, the concept of such intelligent homes is now taking shape in brick and cement. One amongst the many to take the initiative is Mahindra Lifespace Developers, which has come up with their residential project Mahindra Chloris, located on NH-2, near DPS Faridabad. Their project is built on the same concept of Green Building under LEED guidelines and is safeguarded with IEC security.
Informs Pawan Malhotra, Managing Director, Mahindra Lifespaces, " It is an exciting concept. Our project is a unique residential complex that has IEC security. These homes are electronically savvy with special emphasis on earthquake resistance. The E- connectivity allows you to control the apartments from anywhere in the world. Some of its features are remote home access, video visitor tracking system, door sensor, fire detector, motion control lighting, touch screen display panel and motion sensors in bedroom.
Avers Vijay Jindal, SVP Group, whose project Gulmohar Greens has applied the theme, "With Indian realty sector getting international exposure, more new and innovative concepts are making foray into this sphere. People do look for value added services like this as it affects their daily life and make their living a lot more easy, healthy and enjoyable."
The concept seems to be a success in the realty arena as more and more developers are imbibing its features in one or the other way, but there are apprehensions like the maintenance part, its durability and efficient handling of the system, privacy as there would be a common server monitoring all these functions. Though Jain insists that, "There would be no issues as every aspect has been looked after and it would be maintained by professionals. Also we have an Intelligent Building Management System in the control room which would monitor all the activities in the premise."