A Research on Energy Impacts of housing in India

Abstract

The housing sector of India contributes 22% of the total annual carbon emission. Being the highest carbon emission contributor, residential projects consume 24% of total energy consumption in India. In spite of this, not only energy consumption is the issue, but housing built forms are also responsible for creating urban heat island, raised temperature, affected microclimate and damaging environment. Built forms of housing are high-rise, compact and unplanned that trap heat between buildings, causing variation of temperature, heat and air quality at micro level. It is vital to highlight and improve the sustainability towards housing projects in India. Various strategies, guidelines and standards have been provided for better building performance by the Bureau of energy efficiency, government of India.[1] Referring to these norms can help reduce the energy impacts of housing and improve the environment. This paper is an attempt to study the various energy impact factors that affect the environment due to growth of housing and reviews various standards and policies to highlight the solutions.