If you are moving into a new flat after April, you will have the
choice of verifying the rating of the multi-storeyed apartment to know
whether it is energy efficient or not. The buyers of flats can also
check the ratings of the buildings whether they are energy efficient or
not.

Commercial and multi-storeyed residential apartments will be
given stars, to rate their energy efficiency. If you move into a
five-star apartment, it means you save more energy. A single star is
less in energy efficiency.

The new Energy Conservation Building
(ECB) code is likely to come into force from April first week. Once it
comes into existence, all the builders should invariably follow the ECB
code. Architects will be trained to certify whether the new buildings
are energy efficient or not and also give stars.

The ECB code is intended to minimise wastage of power in the present power-stressed times.

As
per the ECB code, the builders should use only  specified materials
like electric wires and other equipment. For example, if a
multi-storeyed apartment builder fixes a non-standard motor to draw
ground water, it would be rejected. He should comply with the ECB code
and only fix ISI motor hereafter.

Likewise, he should also use
solar water heaters and should have recycling mechanism for water. If
the water wastage is minimised, the use of power will also reduce as the
inmates of flats need not draw ground water again.

The ECB code
will be applicable even to sectors like municipal administration,
industry, agriculture and domestic. However, independent houses will be
spared from the ECB code, sources said.

As part of making energy
efficiency and energy conservation (EE&EC) measures mandatory in all
the major building complexes that are going to come up in the state,
like shopping malls, skyscrapers, the State Energy Conservation Mission
(SECM) is gearing up to notify the ECB code and make it mandatory, A
Chandrasekhara Reddy, chief executive officer of the State Energy
Conservation Mission has said.

The municipal officials have
already conducted a meeting with the representatives of Confederation of
Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI), AP Real Estate
Developers’ Association (APREDA) and Confederation of Indian Industries
(CII). The builders informed that they would follow the ECB code but the
guidelines should be in a simpler language so that they could
understand them easily.

The government estimated that around 25
per cent to 40 per cent energy could be saved in the major buildings
coming up, if they complied with ECB code. The major elements of the ECB
code includes building envelope, solar water heating systems, lighting
systems, energy consumption monitoring systems and others.