“We have to see if the energy efficiency guidelines formulated by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) University can be incorporated in the building bylaws. Once this is done, they become mandatory,” said A. Ravindra, Urban Affairs Adviser to the Chief Minister.
He was inaugurating a workshop, Development of Building Regulations and Guidelines to achieve Energy Efficiency in Bangalore, organised by TERI University in partnership with Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike and Bangalore Development Authority. The guidelines were prepared under the support of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP). Mr. Ravindra said civic agencies must take up programmes to convince citizens to adopt energy efficient measures.
Green buildings
“The concept of green buildings is becoming popular; we need to stress on energy-efficient designs. For that, we need to enter into partnerships with non-governmental organisations, professional organisations, builders' and architects' associations, as they have an important role to play,” he said.
He said energy demand was rising steadily. The current demand is 130 million units (mu) a day while supply is just 110 mu, which is a 15 per cent gap, he said, and added that the State's daily generation capacity is 7,000 MW.
Bridging the gap
“The Government has taken up several projects to bridge the gap. While it is looking to increase generation capacity, we citizens must focus on demand side management. This is where the concept of energy efficiency assumes importance,” he added.
