Energy Conservation Building Code
With rapid urbanisation, the building sector in India is experiencing an unprecedented growth. It has 38% (~208 mtoe) of India’s total annual energy consumption and 31% (296 TWh) of the total annual electricity consumption (IEA 2017) (NITI Aayog and Prayas 2017). It is the need of the hour to put in place mechanisms that will help India meet its Nationally Determined Contribution, Sustainable Development Goals commitment.
Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) is one such key mechanism. Launched in 2007, the Energy Conservation Building Code is the first ever initiative by Government of India (GoI) to address energy efficiency in the commercial building sector. Developed by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), the code sets minimum energy standards for commercial buildings with a connected load of 100kW or contract demand of 120 KVA and above. The enactment of Energy Conservation Act (EC Act) in 2001, with the primary objective of providing necessary legal framework for promoting energy conservation measures led to the formation of BEE and subsequent development of ECBC (BEE, 2017).
ECBC V2 was launched by the Hon’ble Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal, NRE and Mines, Shri Piyush Goyal on June 19, 2017.
According to V2, ECBC compliant buildings are 20% efficient than conventional building and ECBC+ and Super ECBC buildings are 30-35% and 40-45% efficient than conventional buildings.
Status OF ECBC Implementation
To date, ten states have notified ECBC. Ten states have amended ECBC, as demonstrated in visual representation.
Objective and Approach of the Workshops
Five high-level workshops were conceptualised by NITI Aayog and supported by BEE and UNDP-GEF. These were a call for action to state and local governments to implement building energy efficiency policy on a priority basis. These workshops complemented the efforts of BEE in ECBC implementation by leveraging NITI Aayog’s mandate for developing capacity and skill sets of states. Successful implementation is possible when states can independently adopt the GoI’s policies and regulations seamlessly. The workshops also provided a boost to inter-ministerial and inter-state dialogues.
The workshops reached out to more than 500 government officials across India from various central, state and local level government departments involved in ECBC implementation process. Participants included over 300 government officials from departments like UDD, TCP department, SDA, Renewable Energy Department, Development Authority(s), Municipal/ Urban Local Bodies, PWD and Electricity and Energy Department.
The workshops primarily focussed on the administrative aspect of the code along with ECBC implementation best practices and initiated regional dialogues among the participants to fast track ECBC in their respective states.
