Indo-Swiss project to frame green buildings guidelines for builders

An Indo-Swiss joint project on energy-efficient buildings will be coming up with guidelines that can be used by builders and contractors, Swiss Ambassador Linus von Castelmur said here Tuesday.

"The urban residential sector is growing rapidly. The energy needs of such buildings are also growing and represent a huge opportunity for energy conservation. The project has studied such buildings in the Delhi and Chennai regions.

"It will be coming up with guidelines that can be used by the builders and contractors to make homes more energy-efficient. This way, the house owners will face a win-win situation," said the ambassador.

Discussions are also on with the government of Karnataka on how to develop standard design features that could be incorporated as part of standard building practice.

Castelmur was speaking at a seminar on sustainable architecture organised by the Swiss embassy and the Bureau of Energy Efficiency.

The ongoing Indo-Swiss Project on Building Energy Efficiency Project (BEEP) in partnership with the BEE is bringing Swiss experts and state agencies to enhance energy efficient design of new buildings in India.

BEEP is a bilateral cooperation project between the Ministry of Power, Government of India, and the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) of the Swiss Federation. The BEE is implementing agency on behalf of the MoP while the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation is the implementing agency on behalf of the FDFA.

The BEEP aims at creating a culture of energy efficient building design through the organisation of Integrated Design Charrettes (interdisciplinary design workshops) for 24 large commercial building project over a period of five years.

BEE director general Ajay Mathur said around 400 professionals will be trained in this BEEP project across the country in the next three years on building energy efficient buildings.