Orientation Workshop on Agenda for Energy & Buildings

Panchkula, March 14 2013

The sustainable buildings team of Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) co-organised a half day workshop on March 14, 2013 with the Department of Renewable Energy, Haryana (DRE) and HAREDA (Haryana Renewable Energy Development Agency).The venue of the workshop was the new HAREDA office : Akshay Urja Bhawan, which has received a tentative five star GRIHA rating.

The 45 workshop attendees included representatives from Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited. Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited, Urban Local Bodies, Housing Board, Haryana Tourism, Haryana Police Housing, Department of Architecture, HAREDA as well as regional architects and academicians.

The workshop commenced with a welcome address from Mr. P.K. Yadav, Chief Scientific Engineer, HAREDA.

This was followed by a presentation by Ms. Anumita Roychowdhury, Executive Director- Research & Advocacy in CSE. The presentation provided an overview of issues concerning urbanization, building construction and energy use, for Haryana in particular. CSE also stressed upon the need for selecting and using the right kind of building materials and techniques suited for Indian conditions and to be careful about following the market trends. Also, for sustainable development factors such as urban planning, transport and water supply etc. also need to considered in addition to energy efficiency.

Mr. Arun Kumar, Director General – DRE and HAREDA, said that the Haryana Govt. is promoting energy efficient buildings in government sector and is in the process of amending building bye-laws for mandating Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) in the State for commercial buildings. Haryana has already revised the Haryana Schedule of Rates (HSR) for incorporation of energy efficient building materials.

In the technical session, Ms. Sunita Monga, Chief Architect, Haryana Architecture Department, made the audience aware of the status of implementation of the ECBC in the state.

Ms. Deepa Kumar, Asst. Project Manager, UNDP-GEF-BEE, Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), gave a presentation regarding status of ECBC implementation in the various states in India as well as the initiatives and activities being undertaken by the BEE to ease this process.

This was followed by a presentation by Mr. Deependra Prashad, Principal Architect Deependra Prashad, Architects & Planners (DPAP), Delhi, Mr. Prashad stressed on the need to change the perspective on energy efficiency, wherein per capita energy consumption also needs to be measured along with per unit area energy consumption of building. He also showcased some of his projects and explained the design strategies and materials used and how these measures enabled the buildings to be energy efficient and sustainable. 

Mr. Neeraj Kapoor, Advisor –Advit foundation, Delhi followed up with a demonstration of the use of the online tool Eco-Nirman: The Whole Building Performance Method. The tool is used to assess whether a building is ECBC compliant.

After the presentations, there was a panel discussion in which various stakeholders presented their respective points of view on the state and challenges concerning buildings, sustainability and energy efficiency. Ms. Neelam Nauharia, Senior Architect, Haryana Architecture Department, spoke of the challenges being faced by the concerned department in implementing the energy conservation measures. Ar. Siddharth Wig, Principal Architect: The Elements, Panchkula, spoke of how present day clients are beginning to demand energy efficient buildings. Being the architect of the new HAREDA office, he spoke of the parameters and aspects which were kept in mind while designing the building. Prof. Chitrarekha Kabre, Chairperson: Department of Architecture, Deen Bandhu Chottu Ram University of Science and Technology, Murthal,  spoke of the importance of capacity building especially amongst students of architecture as well the measures taken by her university to foster such an education system.

The discussion was then opened to the audience. The general consensus of the audience and the experts was:

• Increase capacity building endeavors for the concerned stakeholders and professionals

• Raising awareness amongst the general public on this subject.

• A new curriculum for architecture and engineering students

• Research on local and indigenous materials so that they too may be used in buildings.