Workshop on energy efficiency held

A joint effort by various government departments is required for the proper implementation of the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC), Sanjay Seth, energy economist, Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), said on Thursday.

He was addressing a workshop on ‘Energy efficiency in commercial buildings’ organised by the BEE, United National Development Programme (UNDP), Energy Management Centre and Global Environment Facility (GEF) here.

He said that the basic framework for implementing ECBC is ready. There, however, is a pressing need to train personnel in government departments such as Public Works, Urban Affairs and the local bodies. Also, the ECBC has to be ‘harmonised’ with the National Building Code, the bylaws and the specific conditions of each state, he said.

‘’You are going to enjoy reduced power bills and better comfort. In some cases, IIT-Kanpur is an example, a 60 per cent reduction has taken place,’’ he said.

A UNDP-GEF tie-up with BEE involves promotion of ECBC among the public and technical capacity building, UNDP programme specialist Dr Sandeep Garg said.

 UNDP-GEF-BEE assistant project managers Shabnam Bassi and Deepa S Kumar and EMC director K M Dhareshan Unnithan also spoke.