A Report On International Best Practices: Energy Efficiency Practices And Policies In Cold Regions
Countries with cold climatic conditions like United States (U.S.), Canada, Russia, and the European Union, have pioneered building energy efficiency measures through policy formulation and identification of best practices. International Best Practices Report provide details of the best practices from selected countries, namely, China, the U.S., Canada, Russia, and Germany and their applicability to Uttarakhand. These countries have been selected by doing the Köppen-Geiger classification of Uttarakhand’s climate and then matching the classified climate with the world’s Köppen-Geiger classified climatic conditions
Key findings of the report have been categorised into two categories, policy implementation and best construction practices which as are follows
Policy implementation
- Establishment of building codes and design guidelines defining building size thresholds
- Establishment of energy-efficient guidelines defining energy system requirements
- Development of a compliance check mechanism for building codes and energy-efficient appliance standards
- Capacity building and training programmes for professionals
Best construction practices
- Thermal transmittance values should be as low as possible for the building envelopes, such as external walls, roofs, and floors
- Building orientation should be towards the south to maximise solar radiation
- Adjustable shading should be used to minimise or maximise solar radiation, depending on the season
- Proper insulation should be used in the building envelope
- Both active and passive systems should be used for space heating purposes
- Solar technologies should be used for water heating, space heating, cooking, lighting, etc.
- Energy-efficient domestic appliances should be used
