Get Involved!

Thermographic images taken by Greenpeace expose energy wastage due to leakage from prominent buildings

Greenpeace demands mandatory compliance for building efficiency code in India

June 27, 2007

Print
Send

Thermographic Pictures taken by Greenpeace expose the energy wastage due to leakage from prominent buildings in Delhi. A recent IPCC report states that energy efficiency in new and existing buildings in India can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 30% by 2030.

Enlarge Image

New Delhi, India — Greenpeace today exposed the energy wastage due to leakage from a random selection of prominent buildings across the national and financial capital in a “technovative” manner. Thermographic (temperature sensitive) images taken with a special infrared camera captured the excessive energy leakage from buildings including the Mumbai Stock Exchange, the National Stock Exchange, the American Centre in New Delhi, iconic hotels like the Taj Mahal in Mumbai and the Intercontinental in New Delhi amongst others. The wastage is mainly on account of faulty design as well as usage of inadequately insulating material (glass) and in certain cases non maintenance.

K Srinivas, Climate and Energy Expert, Greenpeace India said “our probe into the building sector in India has certainly yielded startling results. *Energy efficiency is the first important step to address India’s energy crisis and fight climate change, and India’s energy consumption can be halved by ‘smart use of energy’. These images are indicative of the electricity wastage that the cross-section of our current buildings is responsible for as well as the requirement for mandatory efficiency in the building sector”

According to a recent Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change report, the building sector also has a high level of electricity use and hence the total of emissions from this sector (direct and indirect) is very high. The report also states that energy efficiency in new and existing buildings in India can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 30% by 2030. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency came out with a Building Efficiency Code for new buildings in India in May 2007. However compliance with the code is voluntary at this point of time.

Soumyabrata Rahut, Energy Campaigner, Greenpeace said “It is clear that we need to embark on a path of continuous energy efficiency by phasing out inefficient applications through a “top-runner model. The Greenpeace Sustainable Energy Outlook report, proposes the top runner model across all sectors. One of the objectives of the Greenpeace “Ban the Bulb Campaign’ is to establish the model in the lighting sector, with the first step being banning the incandescent light bulb in India. Given the potential for efficiency in the building sector in India, the application of a top runner model for new as well as current buildings is an imperative”.

Greenpeace demands that:
• Compliance with the Building Efficiency code of the Bureau of Energy efficiency be made mandatory
• Current buildings are brought under the purview of the building efficiency code.
• The code be made applicable to residential and institutional buildings
• The Top Runner Model be applied to the building sector

Notes to Editor

* How to Interpret a Picture: If the building is more or less uniform in colour (eg the ITC Green Building, Gurgaon), it indicates no or minimum loss of energy due to leakage, and hence the building is a “green” building. On the other hand, if the colour (temperature) difference between the wall and the window of the building is distinctive (eg Bombay Stock Exchange) the building is inefficient.

* Greenpeace Sustainable Energy Outlook for India report: The Greenpeace campaign for a fundamental change in India’s Energy Policy and direction was launched with the release of the ‘Energy [R]evolution: A Sustainable Energy Outlook, in April this year. It provides a practical blue print for meeting 50% of India’s primary energy needs through a combination of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy by 2050. The report can be found at www.greenpeace/org/india

* Inference from the pictures:
• For every °C increase in cooling, there is a 4% increase in electricity consumption
• Leakage in cool air from the room will entail increase in power consumption
• Leakage is due to
• Badly Maintained buildings
• Low quality construction materials
• Bad design
• Poor quality insulation
• Leaking windows
• Residential and commercial construction has been growing in excess of 10 percent per annum, and that accounted for nearly 41 million square meters last year.
• Merrill Lynch forecasts that the Indian realty sector will grow from US$ 12 billion in 2005 to US$ 90 billion by 2015.
• Electricity consumption of large buildings in the commercial sector is currently of the order of 7 percent of country’s overall consumption, and it is growing at about 12 per cent over the last couple of years.
• Annual energy consumption in commercial buildings, is in excess of 200 kWh per square meter of floor area
• Has a huge potential of brining it down to 120 to 140 kWh on an conservative estimate
• This can wipe the entire peak deficit but also cater to additional power requirement for electricity for all without additions in generation. If building efficiency improves in total, expected savings of roughly 1.7 Billion kWh from just new buildings
• From an environment perspective, every kWh of electricity saved is equivalent to 0.87 Kgs of Co2 emission avoided. So every sq meter of a large building has a potential of avoidable CO2 emissions of 52 Kgs.