Builders to get taste of energy saving norms

NEW DELHI: The government is all set to strengthen Indian buildings and make them energy efficient. While the national building code (NBC) of India is already in the final stages of legislation in various states, the energy conservation building code (ECBC) will legally bind builders to adhere to minimum energy saving measures.

Since the new NBC ’05 came into existence, many state local bodies have incorporated guidelines of the NBC in their building bylaws. This means that many guidelines of the NBC are now becoming legally bound for many states. While this has already been done by the municipal corporations of Bangalore, Hyderabad and Jamnagar, many other states such as Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir are taking similar steps for building laws for their municipalities and municipal corporations.

The NBC 2005, under the Bureau of Indian Standards, serves as a national guiding document for local bodies, developing authorities, construction departments and builders. It provides state-of-art designs, construction and regulations for fire, earthqu-ake and other natural calamities.

Also, recently the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) had advised banks’ boards to consider incorporating in their loan policies the NBC in view of the importance of the safety of buildings, especially against natural disasters. In view of the growing demand for energy in the construction sector, the government has also taken a centralised step to achieve energy efficiency in buildings.