Potential of Energy Saving at the City Level Through Energy-Efficient Buildings: A Study in the Context of Ahmedabad City

Abstract

The building sector consumes about one third of the total energy consumed in India. Moreover, the commercial building sector is the fastest growing sector. Only 33 % of the commercial floor area that would exist by 2030 is currently (2010) built. This presents a huge potential of energy saving in the commercial building sector. A study to calculate the probable saving potential would help decision- makers to further exploit it. The research attempts to estimate the current energy consumption pattern in the commercial building sector at the city level along with a broad study of the predominant building characteristics. Consequently, it tries to assess future energy consumption patterns, based on business-as-usual (BAU) scenario and two energy-efficient (EE) scenarios. The results show that by employing EE building envelope, an annual maximum saving of 202 MWh can be achieved for Ahmedabad city. Also, it should be noted that the difference in savings between the two EE scenarios is not significant. The study proves, with hard numbers, the possibility of significant future energy-saving potential that the building sector holds. It also puts light on the fact that delay in implementation of EE measures locks-in a considerable amount of energy-saving potential.