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The city's buildings are high on energy efficiency, according to an ongoing national-level rating exercise.
Eight office buildings in the city were rated energy-efficient by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), the energy conservation body of the power ministry. Three more in Tamil Nadu also received this rating.
Four city buildings Reserve Bank of India, two southern railway buildings in Perambur and a private energy company got five star ratings for energy-saving measures and cutting down on power consumption. The divisional railway manager's office in Tiruchi also got five stars.
Mumbai has 21 buildings that have been rated on a one to five star scale. New Delhi has 11. The total tally consists of 110 buildings, whose owners volunteered last year to get the structures certified, says Sameer Pandita, assistant energy economist with BEE.
The Royapettah office of Sauter Race Technologies, which got a five-star rating, was designed as an energy-efficient structure, says chairman V Seshadri. "It receives a lot of natural light. Glass panes have been placed away from sunlight so the building wouldn't get heated up," says Seshadri.
The office also has solar reflectors on the windows and demand-control ventilation so indoor air quality remains good without having to use ACs much, he says. BEE auditors also noted that the company's power consumption is comparatively low. "We use a 33-tonne air conditioning plant for an office space of 534 sq m," says Seshadri.
The certification has helped improve customer confidence as the company is the business of energy efficiency, he says. "Our staff also remembers to switch off lights and not waste water," he adds.
The city buildings that qualified include Ashok Leyland corporate office (4 star), Cognizant Technologies (3 star), southern railway's NGO main building (2 star) and HCL Technologies (1 star). Southern railway's chief workshop manager's office in Tiruchi and divisional office in Madurai received four star rankings. The auditors calculated energy purchased by these buildings from the electricity boards and the power generated using digisets.
BEE evaluated buildings based on the energy consumed for a year. It also took into account the built-up area, usage of AC, type of structure, hours of operation in a day and the climatic zone in which the building is located. Those with an energy performance index of less than 100 kw will be given a five star rating, according to the official website.
A majority of the buildings shortlisted are government and public sector undertakings with 21 Reserve Bank of India buildings across the country making it to the list. "We received around 200 applications. But the number of private applicants, who should be the prime drivers of this programme, was very low," says BEE official Pandita.
The programme, that started last year, covers office buildings in three climatic zones warm and humid, composite, and hot and dry. The bureau will soon cover office buildings, hotels, hospitals, malls and IT parks in other climate zones as well.
"More private buildings should volunteer to get certified," says Seshadri.
