Energy Efficiency in Buildings
The problems:
Office buildings: Modern urban office buildings are designed very inefficiently from the energy point of view. On one end of the spectrum are the buildings of old economy that have very low open areas. These buildings have ‘boxy’ designs due to the cost advantages offered by providing fewer windows and fewer open spaces. This however translates to a lot of wasted energy for light and fans. On the other end are the swanky glass clad buildings of new-economy companies. These designs, copied blindly from the western world have a very poor thermal behaviour in tropical climates. Since glass allows light to enter and not exit the building (known as greenhouse effect), the building interiors get heated up more than they should. This translates to higher energy demand for air conditioning. Also in most cases, the designs are not done considering the natural forces and fail to utilise effects like natural drafts, and natural ventilation to the best advantage.
Domestic buildings: While an average middle class family in India does not have air-conditioned house, the number is surely on the rise and will increase as families become more affluent. Most houses also need to use fans during summer months owing to higher temperature as well as badly planned ventilation design. Heating water also consumes a significant portion of domestic energy demand.
Solutions:
The problems can be addressed a large extant by meticulous attention to energy-efficiency issues during planning stage in buildings. For example, office buildings could be much more energy efficient by effectively using light and natural ventilation, partly supplemented by artificial means. Similarly, discouraging use of glass at the cost of energy inefficiency can be discouraged. Domestic consumers can greatly benefit from solar water heaters and better planned cross-ventilation. Apartment complexes can use stack effect to their advantage. There are a lot of solutions if we look around but what is missing is…
… Regulations: Without regulations to enforce better building practices, it is very hard to get energy efficiency into buildings. While the solutions for energy efficient buildings do not increase the cost, it might still need a regulative boost from the planning bodies. What I am proposing in this post is that the bodies like BDA/BMRDA etc draft an Environmental Policy for new buildings and include that as part of plan-approval process.
These measures might not be able to totally offset the energy supply-demand gaps, but they will help the environment in a positive way and reduce the load on infrastructure. The situation is not very bad yet, but is never too early to start thinking about future. After all, it is the last-minute measure that we have been historically taking that have put us in the whole fix of badly planned cities.
[Please use the comments section to express your views for/against this proposal and what various aspects these regulations should include]
- shas3n ರವರ ಬ್ಲಾಗ್
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Some links
UK's national policies for energy efficiency in buildings here.
The Energy Resources Institute (TERI) has a lot of information in energy efficient buildings. They have an office in Domlur which is very well designed.
-Shastri
-Shastri
lighting management
I see many buildings lit all the time even though there are no people inside..its always such a waste of power..makes me sad when I recollect that the poor farmers wake up at 1 am to switch on the water pumps in our villages..
We enjoy to deprive others? very sad!
One easy way to manage this is by have movement sensors..HP's E-city office has this feature where lights get turned off if there is no movement..this might have a initial installation cost but the companies can easily get this money back with the power saved within a year..
why wear a coat?
Westerners use coats to protect from cold and wear shoes to prevent frost bites..why do we ape them?
It gets hot here and as traditionally has been the case panche/dhoti is the way to dress and chappals/paduka is for the feet..
But we still prefer ties/coats/shoes...coming to where its affecting the energy efficiency..in a/c environments the lighter we dress lesser the power spent on maintaining temp..same at home..the lighter we dress lower the fan speeds will be!
Wear slippers->sweat less->less a/c -> no use of socks -> no washing of socks->conserve water/pollute less!
Let us switch...
Switch
-Shastri
The energy issue
-Shastri
THE SIX GOLDEN RULES
The Tata Power Club Enerji educates school children and encourages them to spread awareness about the Six Golden Rules for saving energy and combating climate change.
The Six Golden rules are:
1) Switch Off
One of the best energy saving devices at your fingertips is the switch. Keep turning off all lights, fans, computers, televisions, ACs and all other electrical appliances when not in use.
2) Use CFLs and BEE 5-Star Rated Appliances
Use appliances that consumer less energy. Use CFLs instead of regular bulbs to save energy. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) has introduced a power savings guide for electrical appliances. The guide uses a 5 star rating system with 5 stars being the most energy efficient. Buy electrical appliances which have a minimum 3-star BEE rating label.
3) Save Natural Resources
Save fuel by carpooling and choosing public transport. Save water by using water sensibly. Plant or adopt a tree to save nature. Use cloth bags instead of plastics as they are recycleable. Save paper by recycling old newspapers and notebooks.
4) Keep ACs at 260C or more
Every increase in the setting by 10C will save about 2.5% of power.
5) Switch off from the plug point
TVs, computers, mobile chargers, music systems, AC adaptors, cordless telephones are some of the devices which should be switched off from the plug point. Unplugging devices reduces energy consumption to zero.
6) Lower the use of electric cooling and heating appliances
Heating and cooling like air conditioners, water heaters, refrigerators and irons consume over 50% of our household energy. For e.g., use solar powered water heaters instead of electric geysers.