Energy Conservation Building Code

The Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC), launched on 28 June 2007, is a document that specifies the energy performance requirements for all commercial buildings that are to be constructed in India. Buildings with an electrical connected load of 500 kW or more are covered by the ECBC.

The ECBC has been developed by India’s Bureau of Energy Efficiency, with support and guidance from United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and significant inputs from various other stakeholders like practicing architects, ……………………. The successful implementation of the code requires development of compliance procedures, procedures for checking compliance; compliance forms and development of field-test compliance forms and procedures, in addition to building capacity of architects / designers / builders / contractors and town planning authorities of States and local bodies, housing finance organizations etc and making available in appropriate quantities manufacturing capacity for energy efficient materials it requires. BEE with the support form USAID ECO- III Project is promoting and facilitating Code adoption through training and capacity building programmes, pilot demonstration projects, and identifying steps for compliance check and monitoring of ECBC.

The ECBC provides design norms for:

• Building envelope, including thermal performance requirements for walls, roofs, and windows;
• Lighting system, including daylighting, and lamps and luminaire performance requirements;
• HVAC system, including energy performance of chillers and air distribution systems;
• Electrical system; and
• Water heating and pumping systems, including requirements for solar hot-water systems.

The code provides three options for compliance:

1. Compliance with the performance requirements for each subsystem and system;
2. Compliance with the performance requirements of each system, but with tradeoffs between subsystems; and
3. Building-level performance compliance.

Simulation exercises indicate that ECBC-compliant buildings use 40 to 60% less energy than similar baseline buildings.

External links

• Bureau of Energy Efficiency
• IGEN
• USAID ECO III Project
• ECBC User Guide
• Best Practices Guide - Energy Efficiency in Hospitals
• Draft ECBC code 2007 Draft copy is free, final version is priced

Association with ECBC

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• www.glassisgreen.com
• www.owenscorning.com
• www.spacematrix.com
• www.airtreatment.in
• www.crn.co.in
• www.edsglobal.com