A Hotel That Shuns ACs, Harvests Rains, Uses Solar Power

NT Feature

The State’s first eco-friendly hotel that opened its portals for the guests in Chikamagalur in December 2020, has been doing steady business. Sunyata Eco Hotel was conceptualized by Lokesh Gunjanur, a Florida-based software engineer, and has made itself known for the environmentally sustainable practices. Sunyata Eco Hotel is situated on the Adichunachunagiri Institute of Technology (AIT) Road in the hilly town known for its year-round salubrious climate.

The 11-room hotel complex has been built on a 9,000 sq. ft. plot and has incorporated all that could ensure least consumption of finite materials and maximize eco-friendly material. The foundation and walls were built with mud-pressed bricks with minimal cement and lime content. The bricks were made and baked on the plot itself with mud obtained from leveling of the ground. It has installed 12 solar panels to catch maximum sunlight to provide electricity.

Rainwater harvesting system collects entire rainwater falling on the premises and collects it in the sump with a 50,000 litre capacity. All that exceeds the capacity is directed into an open well in order to supplement the groundwater. In order to maintain the room temperature between 19 and 22 degree Celsius during the summer months when the town heats up, a natural cooling system has been devised to suck the outside air, take it through underground pipes where it gets cooled which is then expelled into the rooms through outlets.

All rooms have chimneys on the upper side of the walls to allow warm air to exit. No air-conditioners have been used in the edifice. Rather than pillars, walls were made load-bearing. Steel was avoided altogether. For the ceilings, coconut shells and pot fillers technique was opted which provides both strength as well as aesthetic looks besides being heatresistant. Hotel corridors have used perforated brick panels to allow natural air to circulate.

Lokesh had purchased the land years ago. But he thought about putting up a hotel occurred only around 2017. He engaged professionals from Design Kacheri, an architectural firm in Bengaluru where personnel had been trained at the building lab at the Puducherrybased Auroville. Another Bengaluru based architect Chaithra Saras too chipped into the project. According to Hotel Manager Mr. Roylene Peris, only refined rainwater is used for the purpose of drinking and cooking. But grey water from the premises is recycled to be used in the flush tanks.

A startup firm ECOSTP from Bengaluru was engaged to install a sewage treatment plant (STP) on the premises for the purpose. Walkways on the open areas on the premises have been covered with permeable bricks that allow water to seep into the ground. Entire solid waste from the hotel is composted in bins designed for the purpose of turning the biodegradable waste into manure.

The Hotel also has a shop to showcase and sell artifacts made by the local craftspersons. The hotel was opened for guests in January 2021 and since then has been cynosure of all eyes for its ethnic design and even local cuisines where ingredients like millets are staple of the dishes. Lokesh is looking forward to entrepreneurs who would like to promote the ecologically sustainable practices.