Introduction

The energy sector holds the key in accelerating the economic growth of India.
Consumption of energy has been steadily increasing in tune with GDP growth. Indian
energy sector, however, has constraints of resources, capital, technology and
environment raising issues of energy security. Future economic growth of our country
crucially depends on the long term availability of energy resources that are
affordable, accessible and environmental friendly.
Looking at the pattern of energy consumption, one observes that although India
ranks sixth in the total energy consumption, but per capita energy consumption
remains very low (Figs. 1&2). Coal and oil are the main commercial fuels and the
country remains a net importer of energy, more than 25% of primary energy needs
are met through imports mainly in the form of crude oil. The rising oil import bill has
been a cause of serious concern.
Regarding electrical power scenario in the country, thermal contributes nearly
70% while 28% is hydro and rest nuclear and wind (Fig 3). The absolute figures are
given in Fig. 4. The gap between demand and supply persists throughout the year in
most parts of the country. With this scenario of energy demand and supply, the
solutions that are being discussed at the highest level are (1) abundantly available
renewable energy sources like solar, wind, hydro and bio energy
(2) improving the efficiency of energy uses by implementing energy conservation
measures etc.

P R IM AR Y E N E R G Y C O N S U M P T IO N (M T O E )

9 69 1 .1
10000
9 00 0
8 00 0 O il
7 00 0
NG
6 00 0
Coal
5 00 0
4 00 0 N u c le a r
3 00 0
2 2 9 7 .9
H y d ro
2 00 0 T o ta l
1 1 7 5.2
1 00 0 3 4 5.4
0
W o r ld C h in a In d ia US
 Fig. 1 : Primary commercial energy consumption for India
and comparison with the World, China and US.
PER CAPITA ENERG Y (Kgoe)

7896
8000

7000

6000

5000

4000 Per capita

3000

2000 1553
915
1000 325
0
World China India US
Fig. 2 : Per capita commercial energy comparison in
India, China, US and the World

Sectoral Commercial Energy

(%)
Agriculture 5%

Transport
24%
Industry 47%

Residential
10%

Commercial 14%
 Fig. 3 : Sectoral Primary Commercial Energy
Consumption in India
GENERATING CAPACITY (MW)

Genera

120000
110000
100000
Fig. 4 : Resource-wise installed electrical power patterns in India

As on August 2004, the total installed electrical power capacity in India was

90000
112,706 MW, with annual electricity generation of 558 billion units. There is an
energy shortage of 8.8% on the average; at peak times the demand may exceed the
supply by 15%. Over the next 10 years, the minimum capacity addition to meet the
demand supply gap, is estimated to be 100,000 MW requiring a sum of
approximately Rupees Eighty Thousand Crores (including T & D investments), which

80000
can not be met through public funds only. A series of measures are required to meet
the situation, one of which is energy conservation.
Fig. 5 gives the sectoral electrical energy consumption in the country. Two major

70000
electricity consuming sectors are the domestic and agriculture respectively. In the
domestic sector, electricity is used mainly in buildings for lighting, heating,
ventilation and air–conditioning (HVAC), appliances etc.

60000
50000
 Others
4%
Public services
6%

Domestic
37%

Agriculture
37%

Commercial
Railways
12%
4%

Fig. 5 : Electrical Consumption in different sectors in India

The buildings are mainly of two types namely, residential and commercial. The
distribution of electricity consumption for various uses is given in Fig. 6.

Total Energy consumption in buildings = 180 billion Kwh.

Commercial Buildings

Others
8%

HVAC
32% Lighting
60%
 Residential Buildings

Others
10%
Lighting
Coolers
28%
4%

Fans
34% Refrigerator
13%
TV Ac
4% 7%

Fig. 6 : Distribution of electricity uses in residential

and commercial buildings

With demand for room air conditioners on the increase, the air-conditioning
energy use is likely to go very high. In commercial sector, the heating, ventilation
and air-conditioning consumption has already been very high. Indian buildings are
highly energy intensive in comparison to buildings in Europe and USA.
Energy Conservation Act (The Gazette of India 2001) introduced by the
Government of India in the year 2001 requires the following in the context of energy
consumption in buildings:
• take suitable steps to prescribe energy conservation codes for efficient use of
energy and its conservation in buildings or building complexes;
• amend the energy conservation in building codes to suit the regional and local
climatic conditions;
• direct every owner or occupier of the building or building complex, being a
designated consumer to comply with the provisions of energy conservation in
building codes for efficient use of energy and its conservation;
• direct, any designated consumer, if considered necessary, for efficient use of
energy and its conservation in his building, to get energy audit conducted in
respect of such building by an accredited energy auditor in such manner and
intervals of time as may be specified by regulations;
• take all measures necessary to create awareness and disseminate information
for efficient use of energy and its conservation;
• arrange and organize training of personnel and specialists in the techniques
for efficient use of energy and its conservation;
 • take steps to encourage preferential treatment for use of energy efficient
equipment or appliances;
The Act also provides for financial assistance to institutions for promoting efficient
use of energy and its conservation. All State Governments have been directed to
constitute a fund to be called the State Energy Conservation Fund for the purposes of
efficient use of energy and its conservation in the respective states.
Using appropriate architectural design, materials, building components along with
the use of renewable energy, it is possible to reduce electrical energy consumption in
buildings appreciably. Climate has greatly been responsible for indigenous human
settlements. Indigenous buildings and great architectural traditions of the world have
both demonstrated an understanding of climate responsive building design, which
can be considered to be the first step to conserve energy in buildings. The first oil
crisis of 1973 brought issues of oil dependence and energy cost to public awareness.
Dependence for energy on Arab world has been the main reason for latest political
conflicts between USA and Iraq and now with Iran. In most of the developed world,
energy conservation in buildings was made part of national energy policies
throughout the industrialized world. Solar energy was used for heating several
homes. A decade later, around 1983, the passive and active solar heating was
recognized as a science and part of construction industry activities to reduce fossil
fuel use and heating costs without compromising on architectural styles and building
practices. The integration of design, climate, and human comfort was first proposed
by Olgyay and Olgyay (1950) as the bioclimatic approach to architecture regionalism.
In the mid 1970s, the term “passive solar design” and “energy conscious design”
were used to describe this attitude. One practical application of solar energy studied
in that decade was day lighting. The energy management aspects that are being
presented in this book are passive heating and cooling, lighting techniques, energy
load calculations, thermal insulations, advanced windows, building integrated
renewable energy buildings and building automation.
With the use of more and more thermal insulation in buildings, the glass industry
came forward to produce high quality glass leading to highly energy efficient window
systems, capable of matching an insulated wall with regard to thermal properties but
at the same time providing adequate day lighting. The developed countries had
developed building design and building materials to keep energy consumption low. In
order to bring it down further, building automation techniques have been
commercialized. Such building automation techniques are already being used in
commercial and industrial buildings in India.

Building Energy Codes

Building energy codes establish minimum energy performance features in the
residential and commercial buildings. Several countries have introduced building
energy codes through regulation to ensure energy efficiency, environmental
protection and fuel conservation measures.
Some countries like UK, New Zealand, have a national code that is adopted
throughout the country as a single mandatory code for compliance. Other countries,
such as USA and Canada, have a national model code that individual state or
province may adopt as a whole or in part or not at all.
 Most building energy codes throughout the world require a building to perform
from an energy efficiency point of view. This requirement is inherent in the specific
energy demand i.e. the annual energy required for heating, cooling, lighting of a
building per unit floor area of the building. A building code usually differentiates
between various sizes and usages of a building. For example, the UK code
differentiates between dwellings and other buildings. A dwelling is a building
designed for the residential use of a family. It includes attached or detached housing
and individual units of multi-residential apartments but not the whole building as a
single unit. It does not include accommodation for elderly persons, hostels,
hotels/motels etc.
In the prescribed energy codes, a designer usually has to ensure compliance of
prescribed methods and/or specifications. As an example, the designer may follow
one of the three available methods specified in the approved document related to
heat loss from a building. The three methods are used to demonstrate the method of
limiting heat gain/loss through the building fabric, they are:
(a) The elemental method: The elemental method requires that certain
building elements such as roof, floors, windows, doors etc. achieve the
minimum thermal resistance (U-value).
(b) The target U-value method: This method requires that both a target U-
value, and an average U-value, be calculated for a subject building. If the
average U-value of the proposed dwelling does not exceed that target U-
value, then compliance is shown. A target U-value is calculated using a
formula that takes into account the floor area of the building in relation to the
total area of exposed elements. The average U-value is calculated by
summing the proposed U-values for each exposed surface and calculating the
average U-value over the sum of the exposed surface areas.
(c) The energy rating method: The previous two methods only took into
account the envelope components. The energy rating method is a holistic
approach, which also takes into account ventilation rates, service water
heating (SWH), internal heat gains, solar gains and the cost of fuel used.
The Indian Building Energy Code is based upon a combination of the above three
methods and offers choice regarding compliance method. The code has good synergy
with the American National Standard: ‘Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise
Residential Buildings’ ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2004. Developers of the
Indian code have taken good care to consider, Indian climatic conditions, available
materials and prevailing practices in building industry. Nevertheless, development of
the Building Energy Code in any country is an evolutionary process, which should
take into account the contemporary building practices, availability of material and
construction skills. The code needs to be updated and modified in a gradual process,
which can be slowly implemented over wide range of buildings all over a region or a
country.
This book, with sponsorship from the Indian Building Congress (IBC), describes
above aspects of energy conservation and management in buildings. The first
chapter deals with climate and human settlements correlating the elements of
weather and climate with building architecture and materials. Examples have been
drawn from a study of vernacular architecture in India (Bansal and Minke, 1995). The
second chapter discusses solar passive concepts and elements for heating and/ or
cooling of buildings followed by energy consumption in buildings. A lot of awareness
is taking place regarding embodied energy. Chapter-3 discusses, embodied and
operational energy demand related aspects of a building.
The Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) has been launched in India on
May 27, 2007, with the purpose of providing minimum requirements for the energy-
efficient design and construction of buildings. To start with, ECBC is proposed for
adoption on a voluntary basis to take into consideration the transition required to
make it mandatory. It is applicable to commercial buildings or building complexes
that have a connected load of 500 kW or greater or a contract demand of 600 kVA or
greater. The code is also applicable to all buildings with a conditioned floor area of
1,000 m2 (10,000 ft2) or greater. The code is also recommended for all other
buildings. Provisions of the code apply to the areas of:
(a)Building envelopes, except for unconditioned storage spaces or warehouses,
(b) Mechanical systems and equipment, including heating, ventilating, and air
conditioning,
(c) Service hot water heating,
(d) Interior and exterior lighting, and
(e) Electrical power and motors.
For ensuring compliance, plans and specifications shall show all pertinent data
and features of the building, equipment, and systems in sufficient detail to permit the
authority having jurisdiction to verify that the building complies with the
requirements of this code. Details shall include, but are not limited to:
(a) Building Envelope: insulation materials and their R-values; fenestration U-
factors, solar heat gain coefficients (SHGC), visible light transmittance (if the
trade-off procedure is used), and air leakage; overhangs and side fins,
building envelope sealing details;
(b) Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning: system and equipment types, sizes,
efficiencies and controls; economizers; variable speed drives; piping
insulation; duct sealing, insulation and location; requirement for balance
report;
(c) Service Hot Water and Pumping: solar water heating system;
(d) Lighting: lighting schedule showing type, number, and wattage of lamps and
ballasts; automatic lighting shutoff, occupancy sensors and other lighting
controls; lamp efficacy for exterior lamps;
(e) Electrical Power: electric schedule showing transformer losses, motor
efficiencies, and power factor correction devices; electric check metering and
monitoring system.
Different aspects of the ECBC have been discussed in this book, alongwith the
respective topics. Chapter-1 describes effect of climate on energy demand in a
building. Chapter-2 explains various passive heating and cooling approaches. This
chapter also explains alternatives to conventional passive designs as per modern
materials and constraints. Chapter-3 addresses a very important topic of striking a
balance between operational energy demand and embodied energy in building. Since
the topic of embodied energy is relatively new, a case study has also been included
to develop a good insight of readers in this topic.
Chapter-4, first discusses various parameters that affect energy consumption in a
building. Requirements of the code related to building envelope have been discussed
at the end of Chapter-4 together with discussion on alternative paths for compliance.
Discussion on the ECBC related requirements for HVAC system and hot water system
have been presented towards the end of Chapter-5 after presenting method for
calculating heating and cooling load. Although the insulation requirements for
envelope have been discussed in Chapter-5, Chapter-6 would be useful in finding
details about using insulation in buildings. Chapter-7 presents energy code related
changes in the fenestration systems for buildings. Daylighting and artificial lighting
related topics find place in the Chapter-8 alongwith requirements of the energy code.
Various options of using building integrated renewable energy systems have been
discussed in the Chapter-9. Requirements related to electrical power which included
power factor, transformers, motors, have been presented after detailed discussion on
energy audit, in the Chapter-10. Building automation has been discussed in Chapter-
11. Automation and control related requirements for various services have been
discussed along with their fields of application such as HVAC and lighting controls in
their respective chapters.