Hello and welcome once again to Electrical India. Development of any country is often
closely linked to the consumption of energy. With over a quarter and billion
people, the consumption of energy in India is sixth in the world and the thirst for
energy is not over and will not be over if we have to keep pace with the developed
world. More power generation would mean more stress on the environment. No doubt, the government is committed to solve this problem and is inclined to generating electricity by renewable, more so by solar.
Nevertheless, efficient use of electricity and conserving as much as possible will assume greater importance. Today, the concept is not of energy saved is energy generated as we have been propagating since the sixties but energy saved is twice energy generated. Our country can easily save about 30,000 MW of electricity just by using the electrical equipment properly and by constructing our buildings more energy-efficient.
According to government statistics, buildings – both commercial and residential – consumed almost 35% of our total electricity last year. In short, our buildings are nothing but energy guzzlers. With more and more citizens moving to cities this is bound to increase. With cost of energy going up there is a clear necessity for businesses to go for more green business strategy and practices and thereby reduce energy consumption in commercial buildings. After all energy bills can be a big burden financially and today organizations are finding ways to reduce their energy bills. Cooling buildings are one of the major cost factors in a commercial building.
New and improved usage of LED lighting can reduce the energy consumption substantially. This also generates less heat and so less load on air conditioning. Another important aspect is proper maintenance of HVAC. We still do not follow the already-existing Energy Conservation Building Code while constructing buildings. The authorities responsible to enforce this rule have had limited success thus far. It must be made mandatory just like there are strict guidelines for fire safety and structural standards without which occupancy certificate is not given to the building on completion of construction. This has to be implemented on top priority.
We look forward to receiving your comments and suggestions and I hope you enjoy reading this issue as much as we have in bringing this to you. Do send me an email
at miyer@charypublications.in
Publisher & Editor-In-Chief
