• Union Minister of Power and New & Renewable Energy R.K. Singh announced various initiatives for the buildings sector as part of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’. 

• He inaugurated ‘Aiming for Sustainable Habitat: New Initiatives in Building Energy Efficiency 2021’, organised by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE).

• He noted that building sector is the second largest consumer of electricity after industry but it is expected to become the largest energy consuming sector by 2030.

• The minister announced various initiatives for the buildings sector during the virtual conference. 

• These initiatives will help enhance the energy efficiency levels in residential buildings across the country, thereby leading to sustainable habitation.

• With future-driven initiatives like smart home ecosystems, optimizing energy-efficiency in any given structure will surely be the need in the coming years.

The initiatives launched include:

• Specifying code compliance approaches and minimum energy performance requirements for building services, and verification framework with Eco Niwas Samhita 2021.

• The web-based platform ‘The Handbook of Replicable Designs for Energy Efficient Residential Buildings’ as a learning tool, which can be used to create a pool of ready-to-use resources of replicable designs to construct energy-efficient homes in India.

• Creating an online directory of building materials that would envisage the process of establishing standards for energy efficient building materials.

• Announcement of NEERMAN Awards, (National Energy Efficiency Roadmap for Movement towards Affordable & Natural Habitat), with the goal of encouraging exceptionally efficient building designs complying with BEE’s Energy Conservation Building Codes.

• Online star rating tool for energy efficient homes created to improve energy-efficiency and reduce energy consumption in individual homes. It provides performance analysis to help professionals decide the best options to pick for energy-efficiency of their homes.

• Training of over 15,000 architects, engineers and government officials on Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) 2017 and Eco Niwas Samhita 2021.

Bureau of Energy Efficiency

• The government of India set up the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) on March 1, 2002 under the provisions of the Energy Conservation Act, 2001. 

• The mission of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency is to assist in developing policies and strategies with a thrust on self-regulation and market principles, within the overall framework of the Energy Conservation Act, 2001 with the primary objective of reducing energy intensity of the Indian economy. 

• BEE coordinates with designated consumers, designated agencies and other organisations and recognise, identify and utilise the existing resources and infrastructure, in performing the functions assigned to it under the Energy Conservation Act. The Energy Conservation Act provides for regulatory and promotional functions.

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