NEW DELHI: Housing and urban affairs ministry is pushing municipal corporations and development authorities across the country to adopt The Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) 2017, said Raj Pal, economic adviser, Ministry of Power.
Pal was speaking at ANGAN, an event organised by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) in New Delhi from 9-11 September 2019.
Pal further said that the Indian government along with Housing and urban affairs ministry is committed to cut the intensity of its carbon emissions by 33-35% and boost the renewable energy capacity to 40% by 2030. He said that buildings consume about one-third of energy in the country hence they play an important role in achieving the desired target. Smart cities scheme is also promoting the energy efficient buildings.
At the same time, Pal added that we also need to create desired behaviour among people to adopt such codes in order to make it truly successful. The civic body should push the housing society builders more to help reduce carbon emissions.
It is estimated that an investment of Rs 2,000 billion in building energy efficiency activities would lead to a cumulative savings of 388 billion units of electricity for the next ten years with payback of about two years.
Abhay Bakre, director General, BEE informed that about Rs 40,000 crores on electricity charges have been saved in the last one year through various efforts and policies initiated by the government.
Bakre said that for the last one and a half years, ECBC cells in almost all Indian states are helping civic bodies to promote energy efficient buildings. They are also monitoring these buildings.
He further informed that in March 2019 BEE had signed an MoU with Central Public Works Department (CPWD) under which BEE and CPWD will cooperate on promoting designs and construction of ECBC compliant new buildings and star rating of CPWD managed buildings across the country.
Bakre also said that they are in talks with Real Estate Regulatory Authorities (RERA) to see how they can promote energy-efficient buildings among private builders.
During the event, Ajay Mathur, director general, The Energy and Research Institute (TERI) said that as of now we are making green buildings little too uncomfortable. Mathur said that we should look at local air circulation, natural ventilation, among other features.
Giving example of Hyderabad and Pune Municipal Corporation, Mathur said that while few civic bodies have successfully implemented and promoted energy-efficient buildings, not many have adopted the same. He further added that we need to convince municipal corporation and development authorities that promoting energy-efficient buildings is beneficial for them.
He further said that going forward we must also look at partnering with electricity providers to promote green buildings. Since renewable resources will become major source of energy in the future, developing storage for them should also be looked at.
Source: ET Realty
