BEA Project Concludes in Nagpur, Provides Blueprint for Boosting Energy Efficiency

The Building Efficiency Accelerator (BEA) project in Nagpur ended in September 2020, with the city having successfully completed the energy efficiency activities and pilots envisaged under this targeted technical support that spanned more than 20 months. Several knowledge products have been developed on Nagpur’s leadership and actions to advance building energy efficiency for the benefit of other cities and stakeholders at the local and regional levels.

The BEA initiative’s outcomes were presented during a stakeholder meeting recently, organised by the Nagpur Smart and Sustainable City Development Corporation Limited (NSSCDCL) and attended by architects, builders, developers, and city officials. The next steps being envisaged by the city to take forward these outcomes were also briefly discussed.

The recommendations from the technical evaluation of the design of affordable housing buildings, planned under Nagpur’s “Home Sweet Home” project, will be incorporated while constructing these affordable houses to enhance thermal comfort and energy efficiency

Additionally, Nagpur-specific ‘Technical Guidelines for Energy Efficient and Climate Responsive Homes,’ developed under the BEA project, will be used in design and tender documents for the construction of future affordable housing projects.

The city also appreciated the energy benchmarking study conducted in its commercial and public buildings. It is keen to implement interventions to improve efficiency, identified through energy audits in public buildings and prioritised through the benchmarking process, and to continue benchmarking in commercial buildings to tap into the significant energy-saving potential.

Architects and building developers appreciated Nagpur’s efforts towards improving energy efficiency and the five factsheets prepared to communicate key information and recommendations from the Technical Guidelines. The stakeholders appealed to the city officials to amend building bye-laws by adding measures from the Technical Guidelines, promote roof-top solar photovoltaic systems, and to provide enabling incentives in terms of extra floor space index (FSI) or property tax rebates for the same.

Nagpur joined the BEA Initiative in 2018. The city was selected for technical assistance by the BEA, given its leadership and vision to advance efficiency across its building stock. ICLEI South Asia team led the delivery of this technical assistance and supported the NSSCDCL in the planning and implementation of its building energy efficiency actions.