Mahindra-TERI Center of Excellence

TERI and Mahindra Lifespaces will jointly establish a Center of Excellence which will evaluate traditional as well as innovative technologies and alternative construction materials customised for Indian buildings.
Named Mahindra-TERI Center of Excellence for Sustainable Habitats, it will focus on improving energy efficiency in India's residential buildings sector.
"The Center will bring the much needed informed validated knowledge about better performing materials and ways to use the ample daylight available that will greatly help to mainstream greener buildings in the country.
"Key focus areas of the CoE will include energy and water efficiency and use of low cost green materials. Another important intended outcome of the research efforts of the CoE will be to address the existing gap in available statistical data sets relevant to the Indian residential buildings sector," a TERI statement said.

The CoE will be located at TERI's Gual Pahari campus near Gurgaon, initially for five years with research initiatives split into modules based on priority and scale.
"Buildings are experiencing unprecedented growth in India, leading to increased energy demand and consumption. Extensive research is needed to enable energy efficiency in buildings, and the Centre aims to evaluate innovative technologies tailored to the Indian consumer and climate and available in the form of ease-to-use tools to the Indian building industry," said Ajay Mathur, Director General, TERI.

TERI said that it is estimated that a significant part of urban India is yet to be built, thus building a strong case for the need to do it well.

At present, the buildings sector accounts for 30 per cent of overall electricity consumption in the country, of which almost 72 per cent is consumed by the residential sector.
Studies have indicated that the average household will likely consume five times more electricity in 2020 than it did in 2000 which is why the building sector in India offers huge potential for energy conservation.
"The significance of energy efficiency in the Indian buildings sector has been highlighted over the last few years.
"However there remains substantial potential for further advancements in knowledge assimilation and technology adoption that can benefit the industry and consequently ensure a sustainable future for India's urban areas," said Anita Arjundas, Managing Director, Mahindra Lifespace Developers Limited.