BEE to Help Build Energy-Efficient Housing in Andhra Pradesh

The Centre’s Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) has announced that it has settled to support the AP government with Indo-Swiss technology for affordable housing in the state.

According to BEE director-general Abhay Bhakre, the bureau will deliver technological support to housing and financial support to hospitals, model schools and rural water supply for implementation of efficiency schemes. He said energy-efficient methods will save about 20% of energy compared to traditional housing methods.

This comes while energy minister B Srinivasa Reddy held annual electricity use per household is projected to surge from 650 KWh in 2012 to 2750 KWh by 2050.

Financial support for the efficiency programmes is grant-in-aid nature (100% free). The BEE has decided to provide technology for the state’s flagship programme of ‘affordable housing’ for the poor, without any financial burden on government, through Energy Conservation Building Code for Residential Buildings (Residential ECBC).

In a communiqué to N Srikanth, energy secretary and chairman-managing director to AP Transco, Bhakre said since AP is an active state in energy-efficiency promptness, the BEE wants to encourage the technology aggressively in key sectors.

“While the Centre was planning to build above 2 crore houses in the entire country, the AP government itself has determined to build lakhs of houses to the poor, which is exemplary. The technology will directly impact heat loss, natural ventilation, day light availability, reduction in electricity consumption and electricity bills,” the letter read.

Srikanth believed huge potentials of the energy efficiency sector still remains untapped in the state.

The BEE has also agreed to support implementation of energy efficiency measures in nine government teaching hospitals as a pilot project. As part of this, energy efficient air conditioners, fans, and tube lights would be arranged in hospitals and the expected energy savings for the nine hospitals would be 1.81 MU.

A workshop will be conducted on residential ECBC in Vijayawada on August 26 and 27.