Tabish Khan (President Bhopal Bodybuilding and Fitness Asssociation)

News From Mahindra India

Mahindra Lifespaces at the forefront of Sustainable Living:

“Residential Project Aqualily at Mahindra World City focuses on responsible urbanisation”

Chennai, June 2012: Mahindra Lifespace Developers Ltd., the real estate and infrastructure development arm of the US $15.4 billion Mahindra Group has been at the forefront of urban development by creating sustainable communities across the country.

The company delivers quality living spaces to its customers for healthy living through consistent focus on thoughtful master planning & believes in striking a harmonious balance between inevitable and responsible urbanization. Its sustainable urbanization philosophy takes into account the social and economic aspects of development too.

 ‘Aqualily’ is one such residential project in this category that takes into account this sustainable urbanization philosophy.

Speaking on the occasion of ‘The World Environment Day’, Ms. Anita Arjundas Managing Director & CEO, Mahindra Lifespace Developers Ltd & Member of the Group Executive Board, said “At Mahindra Lifespaces, we carry the development approach of sustainable urbanisation across all our residential projects. We believe it’s imperative for us to take up initiatives that help reduce the carbon footprint and enable residents to participate actively in the preservation of the environment.”

Aqualily is located on the fast developing GST Road, at Mahindra World City and is an exclusive gated community spread over 55 acres as part of an overall residential development area of 325 acres at Mahindra World City (MWC) - India’s first Integrated Business City. The project comprises 151 luxury villas and 610 lifestyle apartments and is nestled on the banks of the Kolavai Lake.

Being  pre certified ‘Gold’ by the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) , this project is designed to optimize maximum inflow of natural air & light by providing for avenues and opportunities to customers to truly conserve energy and live in a healthy environment and conforms to various aspects of Green concepts like:

·         Energy Efficient design building envelope v.i.z. ‘ Low energy density Flyash bricks ‘ are being used in  the walls & the high – albedo – insulating material [having SRI (Solar Reflectance Index) value more than 78 ] is being used on the terrace.   This helps in reducing the air-conditioning load as Building Envelope always receives the maximum heat energy from sunlight.  

·         The Project provides for better indoor environmental quality by improving the ventilation effectiveness through the provision of more window space to wall ratio than stipulated norms of Ventilation. Also, the usage of low VOC paints and adhesives gives better indoor air quality as application of VOCs can affect outdoor air quality by creating Smog and producing an unhealthy environment.

·         Aqualily is designed to minimize the soil erosion from wind and water through the development of landscape with turf area and through provision of rainwater harvesting at site. The project also provides for storm-water management plan wherein the runoff due to heavy rain is controlled and the eroded soil is collected and stored with fertile soil for landscape application.

·         Less diversion of construction waste to landfill and use within site - Construction waste like broken bricks, waste concrete cubes is used within site for temporary works, land filling. Waste material like Scrap steels, broken glass, wooden material, packing material will be handed over to authorized recyclers.

·         Reduction of potable water consumption is  considered through the use of Grey water from Mahindra World City – Central Sewage Treatment Plant for flushing and landscaping; Low flow water faucets within the homes; Rainwater/Strom water management System & Use of Xeriscape in Landscape (such as landscape will be of Drought Tolerant nature & will consumes less water).

Water saving is also done with the use of Timer based water sprinklers, drip irrigation system, moisture sensors, pressure regulating devices for water control and water meters etc.

·         At Aqualily, Topsoil preservation for future landscaping is being carried out

In addition to this, an occupancy guide briefing about sustainability will be given to the customers.

Homes at Aqualily guarantee a family a holistic living experience in communion with nature. The living spaces are large and are bounded by greenery and blue waters are meant to offer residents an experience akin to country living. To be precise, there is more than 10 acres of open SPACE and the ground coverage is only 33%.

The Central park spread over 2.2 acres is the nerve centre of the development & consists of a series of landscaped gardens, shaded walkways, children’s play areas and an amphitheatre stretching along the length of the development. An area of approximately 5 acres is being developed as a complete Green as part of the regulatory requirement. A fifteen-metre walkway along the lake designed as a promenade for the residents transforms Aqualily into a heaven like no other.

The housing density is designed to be on the lower side to enhance the feel for “spaced out living and gives the dweller unmatched privacy.

With these features those who yearn to live an international lifestyle in a serene gated community, will definitely have Aqualily as a natural choice.

About Aqualily

Aqualily is an exclusive gated community that redefines style and is an unmatched blend of modernity and nature.It is being developed by Mahindra Residential Developers Limited - a subsidiary of Mahindra Lifespace Developers Limited in a joint venture with Arch Capital, an Ayala Group Company. Ayala Group is the largest diversified business group of the Philippines.

About Mahindra Lifespace Developers Ltd

Mahindra Lifespace Developers Limited, promoters of Aqualily is the real estate and infrastructure arm of the Mahindra group. It's footprint includes completed developments of over 7 million sq.ft. of residential and commercial space spread across Mumbai, NCR, Pune and Chennai and over 9 million sq.ft. of ongoing and forthcoming projects in these cities as well as in Hyderabad and Nagpur.

Mahindra Lifespaces has been the fore-runner in Green Homes with seven of its residential projects ‘pre-certified’ Platinum or Gold by the Indian Green Building Council & two projects under ‘applied for’ category with the same agency. Its project Chloris at Faridabad has been rated as PLATINUM certified Green Building, under CII – IGBC green home rating system – India’s second completed residential development to achieve the highest rating in the multi-dwelling units category.

In the Year 2011-12 , MLDL has conserved 38940 Sq. mtrs. of topsoil & reduced CO2 emissions by 15372 MT by use of fly ash. As a part of its sustainability initiative, MLDL fully endorses the GRI objective of further improving the international comparability of reporting results. We are part of the Group’s GRI reporting process since 2007-08 & projects like Aqualily are considered under this.  

Mahindra Lifespaces has pioneered the concept of ‘Mahindra World City’ - a world-class integrated platform for manufacturing and services businesses to operate in a business-friendly, hassle-free environment. Each integrated business city is designed to offer living, learning and recreation spaces which enables a self-fulfilling and convenient ecosystem for its occupants. Two such developments in Chennai and Jaipur cover 4,600 acres and house reputed global companies like Infosys, BMW, Cap Gemini, Deutsche Bank, Timken, Fujitec, Lincoln Electric etc.

Mahindra Lifespaces has received industry recognition as a trend setter and innovator and has won several awards over the years. To name a few, the recognition of being India’s Top 10 Builders, by CONSTRUCTION WORLD for the 2nd successive year; the Economic Times ACETECH Real Estate Award 2010, for excellence in Mid segment (Exterior Architectural design); CNBC AWAAZ CRISIL CREDAI Real Estate Award, in the category ‘Best Residential Property in the Western Region' for its project Eminente; The Realty Plus Excellence Award as the ‘Best Integrated Township of the Year’ for Mahindra World City, New Chennai & ‘American Society of landscape Architects 2008’ Award for Excellence in the Planning and Analysis Category (Mahindra World City Community Development Plan).

About Arch Capital

ARCH Capital is a private equity real estate fund management firm with an active project and asset management platform focused on regional property developments and investments. Through a strategic partnership with the Ayala Group, ARCH Capital brings together the strengths of an established investment team with experience in managing a US$6 billion portfolio and Ayala’s 175-year tradition of dedication to excellence and integrity. Based in Hong Kong, ARCH has investments in China, Thailand, India and Singapore. 

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Hindustan Vichar

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