Green Environment Friedly Homes in US

Last weekend . we went window shopping for Washing Machine. These days all Machine have Energy saving rating in the form of stars and more the stars more Environment friendly machine is. Of course when you read the reviews about performance then we realise that at times more stars have resulted in Lower performance. Sometimes -as in the case of washing Machine- it may lead to use of more harmful detergents to get better wash. It's like Drinking Alcohol will reduce your risk of getting Heart Attack, but increase damage to Liver!!.

In USA I am really surprised at this nitpicking. Look at their Homes! All over US the Floor plan is almost the same. You have 1) Living Room,Dining Hall( for Guests), Family room,Dining space for family, Kitchen and it is an Open Floor plan with no doors 2) Bed Rooms on the same floor or on higher floor. Usually total area is divided equally between the two.

In most part of the USA you need Heating for almost 7-8 months if not longer and Designing of the House doesnt provide for heating only some parts of the house. So at night though only one Bedroom is in use entire 4-5K sq.Ft. house is heated to comfortable level. Same goes for Cooling and Air-conditioning. Even the houses constructed in last few years, when we are aware of Global warming and other Environmental issues have same problem. Besides the heating is done by Gas and US is dependent on not so friendly countries for it's need.

Can something be done to reduce Energy usage to heat/ cool homes? I doubt it. Its 'QWERTY' keyboard problem. Homeowners will find it very difficult and exorbitantly costly to make a switch. Only solution is to popularize Room heaters. But what can be done for Open floor plan ? it will need Central Heating as it is too large for Room Heaters.

Our only hope is that Architectural Association insists on changes in Basic Floor Plan of the homes and make it more Environment friendly.

Public Transport?

In the evening a friend called.He wanted me to join him for dinner. On Sunday evening Drinks,Dinner and chit chat with close friend ! what more can one ask? I readily agreed. we went to 'On Toes" in JVPD,Juhu. Good food, noisy but nice ambiance and catching up with latest after 3 months in US. We left the restaurant at about 10 pm. My friend R, doesnt have a car and uses Ricks and Maru cabs for commuting. usually there are 3-4 Ricks waiting for passengers. But today there were none.Only desperate ,exasperated couples and families trying to hail a Rick. I knew that this is a bad situation. we waited for almost 30 mnts or so with no luck.There were no Ricks to hire,thats all. finally I told R to hop in my car and I drove him upto Nanavaty Hosp.where we could find Rick willing to go to Santacruze station.

it's nice and politically correct to say that we should avoid using personal vehicle for transport and should use Public transport to save fuel and reduce pollution. Our air will be better if this is done. Today I read dire warning about danger to Environment when Nano and other small cars will replace Two Wheelers in India. But I have been in situation described above. Buses are full and they dont even stop at Bus stops, Ricks are full or refuse to come in the direction my home is. I have waited for 30-45 mnts without success and then walked some 2-3 miles before I could get transport. What can one do in this situation?.If you are with Wife and Children or aged parents, and you cant get transport, what is one suppose to do? You feel utterly helpless,frustrated,angry and impotent.

Do people in US and West face such situation?. They can just get in the car and go wherever they want to in comfort.would i like to tell them to shun their personal transport and use Public one? No way !! When we do not have easy alternatives then what right have we got to tell people to use non existent Public transport? Last week High Court in Mumbai directed the State Govt. to restrict entry of personal vehicles in Fort( Downtown) area. So what that person is suppose to do after getting down from Train at Charni Road station ? Walk all the way to Malabar Hill if he has work there? There is no Public Transport from Charni road to Malabar Hill. Unless you make sufficient arrangements ,its futile to restrict use of Personal Vehicle. You will only increase problems faced by already harried "Aam Adami". Ministers,Bureaucrats, Police,Judiciary will use their vehicle 24x7. it will be common men who will face the besura music.--PK