The International Institute for Energy Conservation (IIEC) recently organized a webinar on the topic “Integration of Renewable Energy in Buildings in India”, aimed at disseminating their project activities and sharing the experience gained. IIEC’s expert speakers shared a comprehensive overview of the BEEP-RE project’s deliverables, achievements, and potential impact, including the knowledge products, research findings, and innovative solutions for building integrated renewable energy technologies.
One of IIEC’s expert speakers, Sonia Shukla, Associate Director IIEC presented her key findings on the possible roles played by renewable energy in the building sector in India. Buildings are the second highest consumer of energy in India with around 29% of the total energy consumption behind the industry sector(46%). Renewable energy can play a major role in reducing the overall energy consumption in a building since building codes and green rating systems prescribe the use of RE extensively.
The building sector is a key focus area to achieve the net zero targets committed by India to the international community. The integration of Renewable energy in buildings has a high potential to complement the designs of energy efficient & high-performance new buildings and achieve a reduction in the carbon footprint of buildings by reducing the energy requirements from conventional technologies to a minimum.
According to IIEC’s research findings, these are the renewable energy technologies that are already getting integrated into the building sector in India. These RE technologies are listed here in the order of current integration level:
- Solar Rooftop PV
- Building Integrated PV Solutions
- Hybrid Solar (PV and Thermal)
- Small Wind Turbines
- Small Wind-solar Hybrid systems
- Biomass Energy – Biomethanation
- Fuel Cells using RE source as input
- Heat Pumps
IIEC in association with the Swiss Agency for Development & Cooperation is implementing the Indo-Swiss Building Energy Efficiency Project (BEEP-RE) for integrating innovative renewable energy technologies in buildings that are suitable for and are affordable in the local environment. According to IIEC, nearly 30-45% of energy savings are possible by adopting various energy efficiency measures in buildings.
In this endeavor, IIEC has created a guidebook for the integration of renewable energy in buildings in India. This guidebook presents complete information on the optimum RE technology systems that can be integrated with buildings in India.
The webinar presentation can be accessed and downloaded on Slideshare
