The seasons don’t exist four metres below the scorched earth on which we stand — where the temperature always hovers at a cool 25 degrees Celsius, whether it is a hot summer day or a bone-chilling night.

This knowledge was enough for architect Sanjay Mohe to innovate, and he discovered the benefits of a natural air-conditioning system.

Given a brief to construct an energy-efficient campus for the TERI University in Vasant Kunj, Mohe ordered a tunnel to be dug at this depth. He then set up a network of suction devices and ducts that channelled the cool underground air into the institute’s hostel rooms. The result — a hostel that does not need air-conditioners or even fans.

This is the city’s first green campus, a pale-brown, exposed brick structure built on two acres of rocky land the university got from the Delhi Development Authority in 2003. Registrar Rajiv Seth said, “This is the first campus that has a coherent environment-friendly structure.”

The university has been operating out of TERI’s office at the India Habitat Centre since 1999 but will shift on Thursday to the new campus with 300 students and the 50-odd faculty. President Pratibha Patil and environmental scientist R K Pachauri will be present at the building’s opening.

Green buildings don’t come cheap and this took Rs 25 crore to construct. But Seth said: “The cooling systems have brought down energy use by 40 per cent. We will recover the cost in six years.”

The building has a few other environment-friendly aces worked into its blueprint. The orientation, for one, allows glare-free daylight in all occupied areas. It blocks direct sunlight during the hottest hours. Windows and walls are completely shaded during summer and thick walls are encased by another jacket of sandstone to provide complete insulation.

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