says that there are several tried and tested methods to cool the house natesan also suggests building a sunshade about three feet in width on the western side of the house as thats the part that gets the hottest of course its also helped to keep the heat out of his pammal home it costs around rs 10000 and serves the same purpose since his retirement indrakumar s has been on a mission to create a carbon neutral home you can also use shading nets which cost around rs 3 a square foot and for most of them that means going green otherwise you can build a wooden frame and grow creepers on it he adds so gita m decided to try a simple solution someone suggested inverting terracotta pots on the terrace meena explains that the terracotta pots create an air pocket that cools the building in vellore around two hours from the city the power goes out twice a day and for hours watering the garden natesan would definitely agree with her i do suggest false ceilings and roofs with gaps for air to my clients but trees are the best and most natural way to keep the temperature downs the 68yearolds house in suburban karanodai is cooled by 30000 trees planted on his farm from the moment you enter his gate all you see is green green in pots green on the roof green on the walls green even on top of 10foot high pillars ive wrapped myself in green says indrakumar whose house is now an example of a green home that students from across the world come to see nothing can beat the good old tree for cooling and shade says architect meena chandrasekharan every evening we just water the area around the house and this cools it down says unnamalai who lives in teynampetkaminimathaitimesgroupcom a net with 75 shading cuts out a lot of heat he says its similar to what a false ceiling does says meena who once suggested that a client build a thatched shed on the terrace the simplest solution one of my friends said painting the pots white would make them reflect the heat so thats my next step she says now when the electricity goes off all i need to do is open the windows and the house is cool he says smiling proudly downing large glasses of lassi and iced tea at regular intervals isnt enough to keep you cool during summer the most efficient is a roof garden but that requires a waterproofed roof keeping the heat at bay is a fulltime job and chennaiites are doing everything from planting terrace gardens to putting up thatched roofs to cool their homes but what really cuts down the heat is the greennatesan but now i dont have a single one he says this year my son has also moved in with me and weve rented out that hot house in t nagar says natesan who