The State government is gearing up to make the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) mandatory for all commercial buildings by providing the ECBC clause and fully integrating it with the Development Permission Management System (DPMS) of the Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD) Department and then ensuring its compliance with the involvement of MA&UD and other departments.
The renewed thrust on ECBC follows the concern expressed by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) over the delay in some States in implementing the ECBC which hampers the efforts to achieve the targeted 50% reduction in energy consumption by 2030.
According to a press release by the A.P. State Energy Conservation Mission (SECM) CEO A. Chandra Sekhar Reddy, the BEE has advised the Energy and MA&UD Departments to take necessary measures for enforcing the ECBC as suggested by the Ministry of Power.
Draft G.O.
The A.P. government had prepared a draft G.O. on the adoption of the updated ECBC-2017 and it has been pending. The enabling of ECBC clause in DPMS software was to be completed. As a result, commercial buildings were getting permissions without complying with the ECBC norms, the BEE observed.
The ECBC applies to any commercial building or complex that has plot areas exceeding 1,000 square metres and multiplexes, hospitals and hotels were supposed to comply with ECBC irrespective of the built-up areas.
Abhay Bhakre, Director General (DG) of BEE, informed the A.P. government that the successful adoption of ECBC in commercial buildings would translate to the saving of around 300 billion units by 2030 in India and peak demand reduction of over 15 GW in a year. The ECBC would facilitate the conservation of 30% of direct energy in A.P. and reduce power bills apart from environmental benefits.
Scope for savings
Energy Secretary N. Srikant said as per the A.P. Electricity Regulatory Commission, the energy demand in the building sector in A.P. was around 3,117 million units and there was a scope to save around 30% i.e 888 million units of energy with monetary savings of ₹538 crore per annum. The government is keen on implementing the ECBC in commercial buildings and expand it to the residential sector later.
