The massive mosque facing the Arabian Sea at Kodi village near Kundapur in Udupi district has something special about it besides the its size – it is built to be a “green” structure in more ways than one.
The entire energy requirement of Badriya Juma Masjid is met through hybrid renewable energy, both wind and solar, says Syed Mohamed Beary, a businessman who has built the structure on his ancestral land at a cost of Rs. 2 crore.
Cooling of the building has been achieved by using elements of nature. The building orientation minimizes solar heat and the ‘L’ shaped building plan and elevated nature of prayer hall, green vegetation and water tanks around it offer a naturally cooled environment, he said.
The mosque has solar heat reflecting terrace floor laced with white china mosaics. It is fitted with turbo vents, which not only keeps the prayer hall cool, but also reduces warming of local micro climate.
“Its practically open envelope and non-conducting Glass Reinforced Concrete (GRC) jaalis” with over 50 per cent openings, maximize natural ventilation and supplement the design effort to reduce heat gain,” said Mr. Beary. The natural cooling of the building is accentuated by the wind scoop on 70 feet multifunctional minaret, which forces down draft of cool breeze into the prayer hall and also supports the tower structure of wind turbine mounted atop it.
“The use of hybrid renewable energy, that is, wind and solar, in the mosque will produce more energy than used by the mosque, thus feeding energy to the State grid and accruing Certified Emission Reductions (CER) credits for next 25 years,” said Mr. Beary.
Local resources have been utilized on the principle of “reduce-reuse-recycle-regenerate” and the mosque is equipped with “Pressmatic” TOTO water fixtures to conserve water.
Prayers
The construction of this eco-friendly mosque took three years and nearly 2,000 persons can offer prayers at a time at the mosque. “No trees have been felled for the construction of the mosque. In fact a coconut tree and two mango trees run within its construction,” said Mr. Beary.
The Hindu