Karnataka government has adopted guidelines for energy efficient and thermally comfortable public buildings developed in collaboration with the Indo-Swiss Building Energy Efficiency Project (BEEP). These are expected to assist the state in managing its electricity deficit which has continued to grow despite increase in installed power generation capacity. The BEEP guidelines have resulted from an extensive partnership between the BEEP and state PWD in designing and constructing ECBC compliant buildings. The guidelines take into account different climatic conditions across the state. Read more

President Pranab Mukherjee laid the foundation stone for the campus of Nalanda University in Rajgir, Bihar, on 27th August 2016. He also presided over the convocation ceremony of the university and conferred post-graduation degrees on the university’s first batch of graduating students.

Nalanda University is a Net Zero Energy Building (NZEB) Pilot project of USAID’s PACE-D TA Program. Once completed, it will be the first net zero energy, net zero emissions, net zero water, and net zero waste educational campus in the country. PACE-D team is providing technical assistance to achieve the sustainability goals established by the university. Sustainability measures proposed for the university are showcased on the NZEB Knowledge Portal, another PACE-D initiative.

Nalanda University is a truly international collaboration, with 17 East Asian countries contributing to its development. The university has extensive knowledge exchange programs with academic institutions in these countries as well.

Odisha has started India’s first grid connected solar rooftop project. Green Energy Development Corporation of Odisha Limited (GEDCOL) and the Central Electricity Supply Utility (CESU), in partnership with Azure Power, will be implement the program across 100 government buildings in Bhubaneshwar and Cuttack. Investment for the project has been sourced from private sector and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. International Finance Corporation and European Union (through EU-India Cooperation on Clean Technologies and Energy Efficiency for Eco-Cities) have assisted GEDCOL in program design.

Prominent institutions in Patna have committed nearly 45 lakh square feet of their rooftop space for solar power generation under an initiative launched by Centre for Environment and Energy Development. This space will be adequate for installing about 30 MW capacity of solar PV systems. In response to a drive by. The campaign to popularize solar rooftop systems has garnered support from several prominent citizens of the city including Anand Kumar (Super 30), Bijender Prasad (Bihar energy minister) and institutions like Khuda Baksh Library and Gandhi Sanghrahalya.

State government of Maharashtra has made it mandatory for all new government buildings in the state to follow green building concepts. New administrative, residential and commercial are covered under this directive. The state PWD has asked its officials to prepare designs that confirm to green building design principles.

US government and Ministry of Science and Technology, along with private sector partners, will invest an additional 30 million USD over the next 5 years in the existing Partnership to Accelerate Clean Energy – Research (PACE-R) program. Additional investment will be available exclusively for research on energy storage and smart grid technologies. Existing research areas under PACE-R are building energy efficiency, solar energy and bio-fuels.

PACE program was launched in 2009 by US and Indian governments to support research and deployment of clean energy technologies. It has three components: deployment (PACE-D), research (PACE-R) and access (PEACE).

IT giant Infosys has installed a new biogas plant to recycle food waste in their Bangalore campus. Bio gas generated in the plant will be used in the food courts to prepare food for employees. Infosys has an advanced waste management and renewable energy integration program. Its campuses have a total installed capacity of 9.7 MW of solar PV and 9.25 TPD of biogas plants.

Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has launched an online PV system calculator for consumers interested in installing solar rooftop systems. SPIN will help in estimating potential PV capacity that can be installed, applicable tariff rates and electricity required by building owners. The tool can be used to determine PV system size and costs for commercial, residential, institutional and industrial sectors.

Calculator can be accessed at: Read more…

Nagpur Metro Rail Corporation Limited (NMRCL) is installing energy efficient HVAC systems and LED lights and solar pipe based lighting in Nagpur metro stations. Sewage treatment plant is also planned to generate waster for non-drinking purposes.

The metro will also generate 65% of energy needed for its operations through solar power. NMRCL will install rooftop solar PV systems in two phases to meet this demand – 14 MW in phase I and 11 MW in phase II. Using the RESCO model, 70,000 square meters of roof space will be allotted to Mahagneco for installing solar PV panels. Metro stations have been designed to integrate roof top systems and ancillary equipment.

Indian Institute of Sciences (IISC) Bangalore has installed a 20 kW PV plant on the library building roof. The plant produces about 80 kWh of electricity daily. Since its installation in 2013, the systems has generated 85 MWh electricity, thereby averting 60 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. The team suggests that at current performance levels, investment in the PV system installed can be recovered in 4.5 years. IISC has also used the solar plant setup to study performance of PV technology in Bangalore across different seasons.  Their study of the plant performance suggests a need to keep surface temperature of panels below 45 ºC as beyond this threshold the yield of the panels started dropping.

Chandigarh Renewal Energy and Science & Technology Promotion Society is proposing mandatory solar rooftop PV systems for all buildings. The notification will be issued after public consultation. Residential, commercial, educational, health and institutional buildings under the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh will fall under the scope of this program. Notification will apply to residential buildings on plot sizes greater than 100 square yards and housing complexes on more than .2 hectare of land.