Context

• Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA), in its World Energy Outlook 2023, report has highlighted that India’s Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC), 2017 for commercial buildings sets it apart from other developing economies where “energy efficiency in buildings stands out as a laggard”.

About Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC)

• The ECBC was first released by the Ministry of Power’s Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) in 2007, followed by an update in 2017.
• Currently, 23 states have notified rules to enforce ECBC compliance, while large states like Maharashtra and Gujarat are still in the process of drafting rules.

  

• Implementation of energy efficiency building codes like ECBC is important as buildings in India account for 30 per cent of total electricity consumption, a figure that is expected to touch 50 per cent by 2042.
• Furthermore, BEE notes that 40 per cent of buildings that will exist in the next twenty years are yet to be built, which gives policymakers and builders a unique opportunity to ensure that they are built in a sustainable manner.
• ECBC sets minimum energy standards for commercial buildings, with the objective of enabling energy savings of between 25 and 50 per cent in compliant buildings.
• The code is applicable to commercial buildings like hospitals, hotels, schools, shopping complexes, and multiplexes which have a connected load of 100 kW or more, or contract demand of 120 kVA or more.
• It primarily looks at six components of building design including
  • envelope (walls, roofs, windows),
  • lighting systems,
  • HVAC systems, and
  • electrical power system, and the requirements under each of these components are split between mandatory and prescriptive.
• ECBC is for both new buildings and retrofitting existing buildings.
• Compliant buildings are assigned one of three tags in ascending order of efficiency, namely ECBC, ECBC Plus, and Super ECBC.
• Compared to ECBC, 2007, the updated 2017 code has additional priorities of renewable energy integration, ease of compliance, inclusion of passive building design strategies, and flexibility for the designers.
• While ECBC acts as a national standard, states across India have the flexibility to modify the code depending on unique regional needs. To enforce the code, states have to draft rules and notify them as state laws.

Energy Conservation (Amendment) Act, 2022

• • Provides for the transitioning of ECBC into Energy Conservation and Sustainability Building Code by incorporating measures relating to embedded carbon, net zero emissions, materials and resource efficiency, deployment of clean energy, and circularity.
  • Makes ECO Niwas Samhita, the residential building energy code, mandatory.
    • This is crucial as residential buildings use 75 per cent of total electricity consumed in the building sector.
    • In the coming months, the government is expected to update ECO Niwas Samhita, following which states will notify rules based on the code.

Key Facts

• Implementation of energy efficiency building codes like ECBC is important as buildings in India account for 30 per cent of total electricity consumption, a figure that is expected to touch 50 per cent by 2042.
• Furthermore, BEE notes that 40 per cent of buildings that will exist in the next twenty years are yet to be built, which gives policymakers and builders a unique opportunity to ensure that they are built in a sustainable manner.

Source: IE

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