Alternative materials: CSEB; Earthen construction
towards the east which is not sufficient to gain enough solar radiation.
4.3 Metamorphosis in Construction Techniques of TransHimalayan region of Leh, Ladakh (Jammu and Kashmir)
The author has a peculiar liking for earthen construction. It includes
(by Gurjot Singh Chawla 2017) According to the opinion survey executed and documented in this dissertation, almost 75% of the locals in Leh city rent out their homes during peak tourist season and 34% people prefer a concrete house over the traditional earth and wood construction. Over the last three decades, the population of Leh has grown thirteen times its original amount as is continuing to do so which is mainly because of the boom in the tourism industry and immigrant population from neighbouring villages which caters to the large tourist population in the summer months. The municipality is not adequately equipped to handle the pressure on the natural resources of the valley and there is an acute shortage of infrastructure in the city. Urban sprawl is evident and ever increasing as the locals build more and more guest houses to accommodate more tourists. The pure concrete construction which is done mainly to construct faster is not at all suitable for the harsh winters of Leh. The conductive properties of concrete allow it to cool down very fast, losing all the indoor heat gains at night time and artificial heating is a must in such a building. Architecture is a rare profession in Leh where contractors and structural engineer make plans at minimal rates and sell it to guest house owners. Generalizing these designs as bad could be a wrong statement but most of them ignore the basic principles of passive solar building design which is essential in Leh more than anywhere else in India. For example, the author addresses a hotel which has the biggest glass windows faced 20
construction techniques like rammed earth, adobe (sun-dried earth bricks), wattle and daub, and cob. All of these are traditional building methodologies which work efficiently in the summers as well as winters. Modern building materials discussed in the dissertation are CSEB and cement blocks. There are several innovative building techniques being used in modern construction in and around Leh, for example insulation through pashmina wool, a waste byproduct generated at the pashmina mill which is cheap and effective to trap air bubbles; Trombe wall combined with double glazing which increase solar heat gain and also works as insulation; Plastic wire mesh which is laid horizontally after every two feets in a rammed earth wall to strengthen it and give it a longer life (steel mesh is not used because of its high conductivity); Hollow concrete blocks which are not sustainable but much more lighter than the typically used concrete block, and the air inside the block provides insulation. The greatest resource of this dissertation is the multiple case studies of both traditional architecture and sustainable modern architecture in Leh, Ladakh. The vernacular methodologies of construction are adapted according to the climate and the topology but still has some flaws because of which people make a deliberate choice of switching to modern materials. Research needs to be done on techniques using these modern materials to make the architecture more energy efficient and environment-friendly. The author discusses thermal comfort and compares the vernacular materials to be better than modern materials but does not give enough data to deduce which methodology is more
