TERI, US firm to set up center of excellence for green bldgs

An Indian environment body and an American firm have signed an agreement to set up a Center of Excellence to address energy diagnostics and evaluate energy efficiency in existing buildings in India.
The memorandum of understating between The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and United Technologies Corporation (UTC) would help India move in the direction of efficient use of energy resources and protection of the environment, Director-General and President TERI North America, R K Pachauri, said yesterday.
"With India's expected urban expansion over the next 20 years, it's imperative that we make India's existing and future buildings more energy efficient. UTC's contribution to create this new Center of Excellence is a major step forward in supporting that mission," said Dr J Michael McQuade of UTC.

"Buildings are a source of emissions of various gases and pollutants, and directly as well as indirectly, they account for about 19 per cent of greenhouse gases globally," Pachauri said.
"Today we have knowledge and experience with technologies and techniques by which emissions can be reduced appreciably without compromising on comfort and convenience for users of buildings. For India, higher energy efficiency in buildings is also essential for ensuring energy security for the nation," he said.
Globally, buildings account for 40 per cent of the total energy consumption. By using energy efficient technologies, energy consumption could be reduced by up to 60 per cent.

In India, the building sector accounts for approximately 35 per cent of the total energy consumption and is growing at a rate of 8 per cent annually. In the United States, the contribution of the building sector is around 40 per cent of the total energy consumption.

The Center of Excellence will work towards development of energy use reporting framework for the existing buildings, evaluation of the existing building energy rating systems, derivation of tool and techniques for energy management, real time reporting of consumption, and identification and cost benefit analysis of conservation measures.
It would also help in development of measurement and verification protocol for establishing the energy saving potential of various energy conservation measures, formulation of design and retrofit guidelines that could be suggested as an addendum to relevant codes and standards, and development of supportive standards and regulation that will enable market uptake of energy efficient technologies.

The announcement was made at the Fifth US-India Energy Partnership Summit organised here.