Prescriptive Approach For Achieving Energy Efficiency in India’s Upcoming Affordable Housing
The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), a flagship program of the Government of India, aims to provide affordable housing to the low-income communities. Fund allocation for each housing project is not possible for exclusive studies on energy-efficiency measures and thermal comfort (otherwise considered a ‘luxury’ by affordable housing residents). Hence this paper puts forth a simplified and prescriptive set of recommendations that are categorized based on climatic conditions. Literature reviews aided in initial inputs, which were further discussed for their feasibility of implementation during expert consultations. Building energy professionals, architects, and developers with significant knowledge on building science working on a range of projects and policies across India were consulted one-on-one. The responses were analyzed under three categories: (1) priority grouping of passive cooling strategies, (2) priority ranking of low energy cooling technologies, and (3) recommended building envelope materials. Final recommendations were laid out using a multi-criteria assessment considering the impact on other parameters such as cost, time and ease of application of the suggested interventions. These are intended to be adopted by building professionals across India in the absence of fund allocation for dedicated consultation on building energy efficiency strategies.