An 80-year old Colonial building housing the Divisional Railway Manager’s office here has bagged “Five Star” rating by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) for power conservation.
The DRM office building, spanning 10,100 sq mt, consumed just 42,000 units a month, considered most efficient, a railway official told PTI.
The programme to rate buildings was started by the BEE this year with an objective of creating a demand for “energy efficient public buildings in terms of specific energy usage and the rating was done on a scale of 1-5 with five star being the best“.
The official said for an office where 1,000 staff members worked, getting such a ranking was a tough task as it involved “absolute cooperation of the staff“.
To a question, he said thick walls, windows, court yard, large corridors that provided cross ventilation, wooden staircase etc were mainly responsible for saving energy.
All the incandescent lights had been replaced with compact fluorescent lamps (CFL). Sensors had been provided in the chambers to switch off lights when the officials left.
According to BEE sources, a total of 25 buildings, including 17 of Reserve Bank of India, across the country had been given different ratings.
Tiruchirappalli Railway Division was among the oldest divisions of Indian Railway. Train service in the division was started between Thanjavur and Nagapattinam in 1859.
