GOVARDHAN ECO VILLAGE

GEV has platinum-rated green buildings built with 400,000 locally made Compressed Stabilized Earth Blocks (CSEB). It receives 3500 + guests every year in 133 well-furnished eco-friendly guest rooms awarding a convenient stay. GEV also hosts corporate retreats, school visits and study abroad programs for students.

One of the Technologies utilised in constructing these buildings was the usage of Compressed Stabilised Earth Blocks (CSEB). The fundamental process for making these bricks is by compressing a combination of mud, stone dust and lime with hands. Whilst a traditional red block consumes 27 KJ of energy, this block consumes only 0.27 KJ of energy.

Smart sourcing principles were followed to reduce the overall carbon footprint and hence 90% of the materials were sourced from within a 100 km radius of our facility. An innovative feature of the CSEB blocks is that locally available natural resources are used as a building materials for IGBC and GRIHA-certified five-star buildings.

Water is the basis of sustenance for the entire world be it for the people, for the cattle or for growing food through agriculture. By 2050 half the world’s population is threatened to live in water-stressed areas and a billion or more will not have sufficient water resources.

Govardhan School of Sustainability exemplifies a model for the whole world which is self-sustainable and takes proper measures to both conserve and protect water. A rainwater storage pond of 90 million litres capacity and a groundwater recharge pond of 5 million litres capacity was excavated. These facilities serve all the water requirements of the growing community.

The impact of rainwater harvesting initiatives is predominantly visible with the flourishing biodiversity of the region. The community’s dependency on river water has further reduced saving money used for pumping water from a long distance. The groundwater recharge is projected to be substantial with black cotton soil used instead of plastic lining for the pond construction. In fact, the water reservoir, when filled to capacity, is the largest pond in the district.

Govardhan Eco Village (GEV) is a farm community set up to highlight the importance of living a life in harmony with nature. Unlike the modern-day resource-to-trash systems, GEV is an optimised action model for a symbiotic sustainable development system based upon the principle of circularity.

• Plastic Pyrolysis Plant
  At least 8 million tons of plastic enter our oceans each year. 91% of plastic waste in the world isn’t recycled. The average time for plastic degradation is 50-500 years, plastic will keep getting tinier and micro-plastics will lie as a horrifying gift for generations of humankind.Govardhan Ecovillage is working towards eradicating plastic waste. The plastic waste at GEV is scientifically treated in a pyrolysis plant and is converted into refuse-derived oil! About 100-150 kgs of Plastic is treated daily. 18720 litres of refuse-derived fuel is produced every year.

  This serves as a proof of concept for upscaling in the neighbourhood districts. Pyrolysis and other plastic waste treatment technologies can be optimised for large-scale adoption. The long-term vision is to eradicate plastic waste in the district of Palghar by collecting plastic waste from nearby villages.

• Soil Biotechnology Plant
  Human waste is a menace however, nature-based sustainable solutions have the power to transform it into useful resources. Soil Biotechnology (SBT) is an indigenous green technology for sewage processing for the recycling and reuse of processed water. SBT has been developed & patented by the Chemical Engineering Department, IIT Bombay.Raw sewage is pumped and distributed over the SBT bioreactor through a network of pipes. SBT synergistically engages photosynthesis, respiration and mineral weathering – the three fundamental processes of Nature, to bio-convert organic and inorganic in sewage which otherwise pollutes the environment when failed to be treated. The SBT plant processes 0.2 mn litres of black and grey water every day with 98% efficiency and gives another 40 mn litres of recycled water, 150 kgs of fruits and 60 kgs of flowers/per year. The fish fit water from processing is used for farming and in the GEV nursery.

Coal-based electricity is the no. 1 cause of carbon emissions. In our concrete steps towards Zero emissions and Net Zero energy by 2030, GEV shifted to Solar Power and Biogas plants.

• Solar Power Plant
  Since the ecovillage is situated amid the Sahyadri mountain ranges, it has good exposure to sunlight for the most part of the year and was identified as useful to install panels to harness solar energy. The solar power plant capacity is 300 kWh. With an average of 4 electricity units Solar plant generates 12,000 EU daily which saves GEV Rs. 4 to 5 lakh per month.
• Biogas and Vermicompost
  Animal waste is treated with a biogas plant. Biogas plant accepts cow dung and gives out digested slurry after extracting 30 cu. meter of biogas (Methane). The Vermicompost plant linked with Biogas further treats digested slurry resulting in black gold- the best organic fertiliser used in the organic farming system. The biogas thus produced is used in cooking and cow products lab thus saving on LPG costs.

GEV houses a biodiversity spiritual park replicating the holy places of the Vrindavan forest from India to promote cultural heritage. The park has water bodies & plants with hundreds of birds &; butterflies. Vrindavan Forest is home to 10,000+ trees and plants belonging to 165+ species 65+ species of birds and 55+ species of butterflies from 5 families.

• Tree plantation
  As the amount of carbon is rising in the atmosphere, the existing forests around the world tackle about 33% of human-caused emissions. With the rise in global warming, trees are very much the saviour of our ecology.
  
  In the efforts to preserve, conserve and protect mother earth, under the guidance of HH Radhanath Swami, Govardhan Ecovillage has planted 5000 trees and 15,000 shrubs within the campus and has given away 1,50,000 saplings including fruit-bearing trees to the villagers in palghar district.

Govardhan Goshala
The Goshala at Govardhan Ecovillage was started in 2003. Beginning with only 9 cows & bulls, the number today has increased to 104 and is expected to reach 150 in the next few years. One of the unique features of the Govardhan Ecovillage Goshala is the personal attention and care given, with separate special zones allocated for Bulls, Cows, Calves and milking Cows.

Cows at Govardhan Ecovillage are treated as family and all due care is given to them. The health status of each and every cow is noted by a veterinarian on a daily basis.

Govardhan Ecovillage Goshala provides excellent facilities for Cows and bulls, setting world-class standards in Cow care with rope free zones, fresh water, special calf care and many other practical considerations.