Sustainable Cooling: MEPS for EACs will lead to reduced energy demand

Developing Minimum Energy Performance Standards MEPS for evaporative air coolers will help minimise their impact on the environment and allow policymakers to push the agenda of sustainable cooling

New Delhi: The Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy (AEEE) today launched its report, Decoding Evaporative Air Coolers. This report is prepared under the umbrella of the on-going SHEETAL project which is supported by Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) to facilitate the implementation of India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) recommendations. The report lays the stepping stones for policymakers to move forward towards the development of Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) for evaporative air coolers to push the agenda of sustainable cooling.

The report sheds light on the evaporative air cooler’s technological feasibility and applicability, an overview of India’s evaporative air cooler market scenario, and the existing national institutional and regulatory mechanism for improving appliance energy efficiency. It draws recommendations for India’s evaporative air cooler sector based on the review and comparison of the evaporative air cooler standards adopted nationally and internationally.

Being an affordable and sustainable space cooling technology, evaporative air coolers could be the preferred solution for achieving thermal comfort within India. The projections suggest that India’s evaporative air cooler market will grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 14.2% during 2019-25 and as the affordable housing sector adds another 360 million sq.m. by 2022 to the building footprint, evaporative air coolers could be instrumental for achieving thermal comfort at affordable rates, leading to an exponential increase in their demand. Therefore, prevailing conditions postulate an opportunity to develop MEPS for evaporative air coolers to minimise their impact on the environment and stay ahead of the expected demand curve.

Based on the comprehensive review of national and international – institutional and regulatory frameworks, the study identifies a need to develop MEPS and label for evaporative air coolers, for which the study recommends certain key parameters for evaluating overall performance, water and energy efficiency of evaporative air coolers. It also recommends implementing capacity building and awareness generation strategies for faster adoption of the label and establishing testing infrastructure.

The study also provides a brief overview of India’s institutional and regulatory mechanism for improving appliance energy efficiency. Various ministries govern the institutional landscape for appliances in India, regulatory bodies, state agencies and associations, including the Ministry of Power (MoP), Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI), Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution, Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), Central Power Research Institute (CPRI), State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERCs), State Designated Agencies (SDAs), Indian Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ISHRAE) and Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association (CEAMA). These institutions could potentially play a key role in implementing the Minimum Energy Performance Standard (MEPS) for evaporative air coolers in India.

Moreover, the study also examines the Indian Standard (IS) 3315:2019 for evaporative air coolers and energy efficiency programmes focused on increasing appliance efficiency in India. The report also touches upon the evaporative air coolers standards adopted by Australia, the USA (California), and Iran along with the evaporative air coolers standards developed by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and Eurovent Certita Certification to create a more robust institutional and regulatory framework.

Link to the report: Decoding Evaporative Air Coolers

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