Development of national energy efficiency standards for residential buildings in India

Population and economic growth as well as urbanisation drive a massive demand for the construction of buildings in India where two thirds of the building structures that will exist in 2030 are yet to be built. The residential sector plays a key role as its electricity consumption is projected to increase seven fold from 2012 to 2032. Thus, this sector will become the largest consumer of electricity by 2032. These developments offer the great opportunity to generate energy and cost savings over the upcoming decades through the implementation of energy efficiency features in newly constructed buildings.   

The overall objective of this intervention was to support the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) in the development of an energy conservation building code (ECBC) for multi-storey residential buildings by providing specific sets of recommendations. This assignment formed part of the “Indo-German Energy Programme” (IGEN) which aims to foster climate protection by supporting energy efficiency in energy consumption. Thus far, various programmes ranging from standards and labelling to energy efficiency in commercial buildings have been developed. Based on this experience, BEE and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH have identified the necessity for a programme which focuses specifically on energy efficiency in residential multi-storey buildings.

Through a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, adelphi together with its partner ICF Consulting India Ltd. (ICF India) enabled the development of the ECBC and ensured its implementation in selected states and municipalities. Technical assistance measures such as accompanying workshops and round table talks strengthened the capabilities among key stakeholders to implement the code with ease. Furthermore, the development of measurement and verification processes as well as appropriate incentive mechanisms supported the application of the code.