A climate-resilient, energy-efficient, and sustainable built environment is essential for India to achieve its net-zero commitments. The buildings sector is the third-largest energy consumer in the country, accounting for 25% of its annual greenhouse gas emissions. With the floor area of buildings expected to double by 2050 compared to the 2020 baseline, this share is anticipated to grow further. It is essential to decarbonise our buildings, especially given the rising cooling demand due to increasing heat stress, poor building design and construction practices, and the suboptimal thermal performance of commonly used materials.
India's efforts to decarbonise the sector are hindered by a fragmented institutional framework, regulatory challenges, data gaps, and financial constraints. Additional challenges, such as poor compliance with building codes, limited access to low-carbon materials and financing, inadequate data on building energy performance, and a workforce lacking expertise in sustainable practices, further exacerbate the issue. Addressing these barriers presents an opportunity for transformative climate action.
Objective
Enable the decarbonisation and enhance climate resilience of India’s rapidly growing built environment
Strategic Focus Areas
- Support the development of next-generation energy efficiency, decarbonisation, and sustainable building codes
- Advance the adoption of energy efficiency codes and standards at the sub-national level
- Facilitate energy efficiency retrofits in existing structures to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions
- Enable systems for data disclosure, energy benchmarking, and validation of building energy performance
- Enhance the climate resilience of buildings by enabling the market for low-embodied carbon building materials
- Develop innovative business models and financing options to accelerate the transition to a sustainable built environment
- Collaborate with key stakeholders across the buildings and material value chain
Flagship Programmes
State Bank of India’s Energy Efficient Housing Program (EEHP)
The programme focuses on promoting the mass adoption of energy-efficient passive building designs and technologies for residential projects in India. It involves the KfW credit line of USD 277 million to the State Bank of India to support builder/construction loans and sub-loans to home buyers for energy-efficient buildings. An investment grant component of EUR 10 million is proposed to incentivise higher building energy performance. A consortium of Ernst & Young LLP (EY) and AEEE is jointly providing technical assistance for the credit line and the investment grant.
Solar Decathlon India
Solar Decathlon India (SDI) aimed at building the next generation of leaders to combat climate change, is an annual student challenge for undergraduate and postgraduate students from Indian academic institutions to develop innovative, net-zero energy-water and climate-resilient solutions for the building sector in India. SDI’s gamified learning model brings tomorrow’s change-makers into the program and offers them learning and connections with real-world professionals. This model has led to students getting jobs and the industry getting engaged for building sustainably towards a climate-resilient and net-zero future. It has created flywheel effect towards changing the education and the DNA of the entire building sector in India.
Vernacular and Innovative Construction Alternatives for Low-carbon Development Practices for Buildings and Cities (VICALP)
Project VICALP aims to revitalise local economies in the selected cities through enhanced adoption of local and low-carbon solutions. As part of the project, city-specific building sector models will be developed to estimate the impact of emissions and guide policymakers. Traditional and local knowledge-based solutions will be assessed, creating a matrix of viable options. These solutions will be promoted through case studies and pilot projects to increase stakeholder awareness. Collaboration with national, state, and local institutions will help ensure the widespread adoption of low-embodied construction materials.
Decarbonisation Business Charter
The Decarbonisation Business Charter (DBC) was established as a platform to unite key stakeholders in promoting the decarbonisation of the building and construction sector while addressing shared challenges and opportunities. Developed by AEEE, World Resources Institute (WRI) India, Mahindra Lifespace Developers Limited, and EcoCollab, with support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the charter serves as a framework for identifying and prioritising critical actions to reduce carbon emissions in the sector. Seventy-four industry partners including developers, consultants, manufacturers, and asset owners, have signed the DBC, committing to decarbonise their future projects.
Pioneering Net-Zero Buildings: The Infosys Journey
AEEE chronicled Infosys’ transformation from an IT leader to a carbon-neutral pioneer that redefined sustainable building practices in India. Initially influenced by Western designs, Infosys faced challenges with energy consumption and occupant comfort. This led to a profound internal shift and the establishment of a Green Initiatives team to pioneer energy-efficient innovations. Infosys limited electricity consumption growth despite workforce growth and achieved substantial energy savings. The publication of this journey of Infosys serves as a template for other companies and policymakers aiming for net-zero emissions in the building sector.
Development of Integrated Carbon Assessment Framework for Reducing Building’s Carbon Footprint
Di-Carb aims to analyse building sector emissions from a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) perspective, focusing on commercial buildings. It emphasises both embodied and operational carbon emissions and links these to thermal comfort and energy consumption through the use of alternative materials and construction techniques.
