Sri Lanka It's Happening

February 14, 2007

When it comes to software development, I am dead set against regimented development methods. Me, I am all for agile programming and have been an agile programmer long before it became fashionable and indeed even before the word was coined.

When it comes to house building, I am equally certain that agile methods would result in a house that crumbles in an year. So I started off by getting an architect to come up with a design. The design includes a greenroof. The green roof I have in my mind will be covered in grass, it's weight means that a structural engineer needs to be involved. The design created by the structural engineer seemed to be undually complicated and was shot down by the architect.

That's nothing new. Architects and structural engineers hate each other and are quick to condem each other's work. So I sought a second opinion. The second engineer misundestood some components of the design and he had to go make some changes. His design though wasn't detailed enough so I went back to the first design with some minor modifications.

In the meantime, I asked an Electrical engineer to come up with a wiring diagram. Wiring in this house is going to be somewhat complicated because. I am going to have grid interactive solar power. It's going to set me back several hundred thousand rupees but I do not wish to contribute to the destruction of St Clair.

In the meantime, I have asked another engineer to come up with a design for the plumbing and water supply system. Another one of my plans is to have a rain water harvesting system. That leads to a heap of complications but Colombo's water supply is bound to dry up sooner or later so be prepared.

Posted by raditha at February 14, 2007 8:05 AM