Energy Conservation Building Code
The Energy Conservation Act of 2001 mandated the creation of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), established in March 2002. The BEE was mandated with establishing an Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC).
A National building code (NBC) was developed by the Bureau of Indian Standards, and last revised in 2005. However, it does not specifically address energy efficiency issues. Rather, it promotes the use of new and innovative technologies and methods. This code serves as a building block to achieve the Sustainable Habitat mission of the National Climate Action Plan.
The ECBC, launched in 2007, specifies the energy performance requirement of commercial buildings in India and sets minimum requirements for building envelope components, lighting, HVAC, electrical systems, water heating and pumping systems.
It has been developed to account for five different climatic zones, particularly for envelope component requirements. It was not mandatory the first three years, to allow the necessary implementation capacity to be developed, but became so in 2010.
The code will be mandatory for all new buildings (commercial buildings or complexes) with a connected load of 100kW or more, or a contract demand of 120 kVA or greater. It will also apply to buildings with a conditioned floor space of 1,000m2 or greater.
