About the Programme
The building sector in India is experiencing unprecedented growth and is likely to add about 35 billion m² of new floor area by 2050. Providing thermal comfort, reliable electricity, nutritional food, and access to vaccines to all its citizens is a key challenge and also a pressing priority. This offers emerging opportunities for more future ready buildings and habitable communities – with ambitious building energy codes, net-zero energy and net-zero carbon buildings, low-energy cooling innovations, energy-efficient and smart appliances, and sustainable cold-chain infrastructure for horticulture and vaccines.
The Buildings and Communities team at AEEE strives to advance energy efficiency, equity, and visibility of energy if buildings by undertaking cutting-edge research and analysis, supporting policy implementation, market transformation, and creating tools and other knowledge products.
Strategic focus area
- Fostering R&D for sustainable buildings
- Building energy codes and labels
- Standards & Labelling of appliances
- Sustainable cooling & refrigeration
- Demand response and grid-interactive buildings
- Sustainable cold-chain
Flagship programmes
India Cooling Coalition
India Cooling Coalition (ICC) is a multi-stakeholder group engaged extensively in sustainable cooling research and application. The platform aims to strategically mitigate the developmental challenges in line with various national and international commitments like India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP), the Kigali Amendment, Paris Agreement, and Sustainable Development Goals.
SHEETAL
SHEETAL is a consortium of CSOs led by TERI and partners AEEE, CEEW, supported by Children Investment Fund Foundation, to facilitate the implementation of India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) recommendations.
As a part of the consortium, AEEE is the leading organisation for the Work Theme 2: Sectoral Actions and Work Theme 3: Enabling Actions.
The Work Theme 2 spans across the sectoral sub-themes on:
- Space Cooling – implementing space cooling policies, programmes and regulations
- Cold-chain
This work theme encompasses activities related to Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) and Standards & Labelling (S&L) program, residential building code adoption and implementation, not-in-kind or non-refrigerant based climate-friendly cooling solutions and cold-chain.
The Work Theme 3: Enabling Actions spans across the cross-cutting work theme on Behavioural Change.
SAHARA
Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy (AEEE), in partnership with Symphony Ltd., initiated the first-of-its-kind pilot “SAHARA programme”, a programme for Supporting Affordable Heat Action for Resilient Academic Institutions in India. The programme aims to mainstream super-energy efficient, affordable and sustainable space cooling solutions in India’s academic Institutions to bring in systemic changes and ensure Thermal Comfort for a Billion Lives (TCBL). This programme will also draw support from AEEE’s ongoing project SHEETAL.
Scaling-up Investment in Clean and Efficient Cold-chain in India
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in partnership with Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy (AEEE) and Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), is implementing the project ‘Scaling-up Investment in Clean and Efficient Cold-chain in India’ funded by the Clean Cooling Collaborative. The focus of the cold-chain support programme is to work with the state government and key cold-chain stakeholders to accelerate sustainable, market-linked and integrated agricultural cold-chain development.
Reports and Research
Transitioning to Super Energy-Efficient Room Air Conditioners: Fostering ICAP Implementation
Must Read
Retrofit and Modernize: A way forward for revamping legacy cold storages in India
Agriculture, one of the most important sectors of the Indian economy, has seen phenomenal growth in the production of perishable commodities, including horticulture produce. Among the horticulture crops, Uttar Pradesh was India’s largest potato producing state, followed by West Bengal, where 13.16 million metric tonnes (MMT) of potatoes were produced in 2019-20. However, investment for cold chain development in India, particularly West Bengal, undermines the importance of a climate-friendly uninterrupted cold chain as an essential requirement for the potato value chain.
Meet the Team
The Building and Communities team at AEEE is a mixed bag of seasoned professionals and researchers, coming from varied backgrounds. Here is how our team looks like:
Akhil Singhal
Senior Research Associate
Shatakshi Suman
Senior Research Associate
Gerry George
Senior Research Associate
Khushboo Gupta
Senior Research Associate
Ishita Sachdeva
Senior Research Associate
Simrat Kaur
Research Associate
