Energy Conservation Building Code

The Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC), launched on 28th June 2007, is a document that specifies the energy performance requirements for all commercial buildings that are to be constructed in India. Buildings with 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, and is mandated by the Energy Conservation Act, 2001, passed by the Indian Parliament in September 2001.

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:

 (a) Compliance with the performance requirements for each subsystem and system;
 (b) Compliance with the performance requirements of each system, but with tradeoffs between subsystems; and
 (c) Building-level performance compliance.

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

See also

• Energy efficient buildings in India

External links

• Bureau of Energy Efficiency
  • The Energy Conservation Building Code
  • Energy Conservation Act, 2001