To coax establishments to use electricity more efficiently, the Union Environment Ministry is mulling laws that will require buildings — commercial spaces, airports, offices — to ensure that air conditioners function at pre-set temperatures.
At a conference to discuss India’s roadmap to phase out particular gases used in refrigerants and air-conditioners because they contribute to global warming, M.K. Singh, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forests said the government could bring in a notification, after due public consultation, and have rules that define operating parametres for ACs. This was because several places frequently set their air conditioners to extremely low temperatures — irrespective of whether the weather required it to be so — and thereby consumed an excess of electricity.
“In Japan, there are regulations that require air-conditioners be set at a specific temperature depending on the season,” Mr. Singh told The Hindu on the sidelines of the conference. Since the summer of 2005, the Japanese Ministry of Environment requires all government departments and commercial establishments to pre-set their air conditioners to 28°C (82°F) during the summer, with employees expected to eschew formal business-wear for comfortable casuals. Mr. Singh added that there would be discussions on the plan but there was no time-frame yet in place to execute the proposal.
Chandra Bhushan, Deputy Director General, Centre for Science and Environment, who was part of the discussion panel, said that his organisation had discussed such a plan with the ministry.
“Even the European Union has regulations on the use of heating and cooling equipment…we discussed this [with the government] and let’s see if this comes about,” he said on phone.
The panel was part of conference to announce updates on India’s ongoing plans to phase out hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFC), chemicals widely used in refrigerants and airconditioners. Originally brought in as replacements for refrigerant-chemicals but later found to have a high global warming potential, India is one of the largest consumers of HCFCs after China, and is expected to use even more of it because of the projected growth in the sale of air-conditioners. It has, however, agreed to stop the use of HCFCs by 2030.
