Thaindian News

New Delhi, Nov 10 (IANS) India and Switzerland have signed an agreement to cooperate in the development of energy-efficient buildings through the use of advanced Swiss technologies.

Philippe Welti, Swiss ambassador to India and joint secretary in the power ministry Devinder Singh recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for cooperation in the real estate sector, according to a statement by the Swiss embassy here Thursday.

“The MoU is for a period of five years and aims at reducing energy consumption in new buildings in India,” the statement said.

The objective of the initiative is to build capacities and knowledge of builders, architects, engineers, labs, institutions and others, in the area of building energy efficiency in India by utilising Swiss experience and expertise, and by following a multi-stakeholders cooperation process, it said.

Buildings are one of the largest consumers of energy. World-wide 30-40 percent of the total primary energy is used in buildings.

It is estimated that in India about 8 percent of the total electricity is being used in commercial buildings and the demand for electricity in commercial buildings is growing at a rate of 13 percent every year.

There is a large potential of energy saving in real estate development in India.

Designing a commercial building according to Energy Conservation Building Codes as recommended by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency is expected to reduce energy consumption by 30-40 percent.

Some high performance buildings claim to have achieved energy savings of up to 60 percent.

“As a majority of buildings that would exist in 2030 would have been constructed between now and 2030, it is possible for India to have an energy-efficient building stock,” the statement said.