ECBC

ENERGY CONSERVATION BUILDING CODE

GREEN BUILDINGS AND INFRASTRUCTURE

RUSHIKA
15091AA066
SEMESTER – VII B
INTRODUCTION
The Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC), was launched by Ministry of Power,
Government of India in May 2007, as a first step towards promoting energy efficiency in the
building sector.
The ECBC was developed by an Expert Committee, set up by India’s Bureau of Energy
Efficiency, with support and guidance from United States Agency for International
Development (USAID) and significant inputs from various other stakeholders such as
practicing architects, consultants, educational institutions and other government
organizations.
The successful implementation of the code requires development of compliance procedures
(compliance forms and development of field-test compliance forms and procedures), in
addition to building capacity of architects/designers/builders/contractors and government
official in States and Urban and Local Bodies (ULBs). It is also dependent on availability of
materials and equipment that meet or exceed performance specifications specified in
ECBC.

The ECBC provides design norms for:

•Building envelope, including thermal performance requirements for walls, roofs, and
windows;
•Lighting system, including daylighting, and lamps and luminaire performance requirements;
•HVAC system, including energy performance of chillers and air distribution systems;
•Electrical system; and
•Water heating and pumping systems, including requirements for solar hot-water systems.
 During the capacity building effort, a need was clearly felt to provide
additional guidance to design and construction professionals on the
rationale behind the ECBC specifications and provide explanations to the
key terms and concepts governing these specifications so that people are
able to comprehend ECBC in a better way. Considering this growing need
for developing a better understanding of ECBC in the country, the ECBC
User Guide has been prepared under the USAID ECO-III Project in close
partnership with BEE. The document aims to guide and assist the building
designers, architects and all others involved in the building construction
industry to implement ECBC in real situations. The document is written
both as a reference and as an instructional guide. It also features examples,
best practices, checklists, etc. to direct and facilitate the design and
construction of ECBC-compliant buildings in India.
PURPOSE
The purpose of the Energy Conservation Building Code (Code) is to provide minimum
requirements for the energy-efficient design and construction of buildings. The Code also
provides two additional sets of incremental requirements for buildings to achieve enhanced
levels of energy efficiency that go beyond the minimum requirements.

SCOPE
The Code is applicable to buildings or building complexes that have a connected load of 100 kW
or greater or a contract demand of 120 kVA or greater and are intended to be used for
commercial purposes. Buildings intended for private residential purposes only are not covered by
the Code

EVERGY EFFICIENCY PERFORMANCE LEVELS

The code prescribes the following three levels of energy efficiency: (a) Energy Conservation
Building Code Compliant Building (ECBC Building) ECBC Buildings shall demonstrate compliance by
adopting the mandatory and prescriptive requirements listed under ECBC Compliant Building
requirements in §4 to §7, or by following the provisions of the Whole Building Performance (WBP)
Method in §9. (b) Energy Conservation Building Code Plus Building (ECBC+ Building) ECBC+
Buildings shall demonstrate compliance by adopting the mandatory and prescriptive requirements
listed under ECBC+ Compliant Building requirements in §4 to §7, or by following the provisions of
the Whole Building Performance (WBP) Method in §9. (c) Super Energy Conservation Building Code
Building (SuperECBC Building) SuperECBC Buildings shall demonstrate compliance by adopting the
mandatory and prescriptive requirements listed under SuperECBC Compliant Building requirements
in §4 to §7, or by following the provisions of the Whole Building Performance (WBP) Method.
COMPLIANCE AND APPROACH

To comply with the Code, buildings shall

(a) have an Energy Performance Index Ratio (EPI Ratio) as defined in §3.1.1 that is
less than or equal to 1 and,
(b) (b) meet all mandatory requirements
The Energy Performance Index (EPI) of a building is its annual energy consumption in
kilowatt-hours per square meter of the building. While calculating the EPI of a
building, the area of unconditioned basements shall not be included. EPI can be
determined by:
𝐸𝑃𝐼 = 𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑘𝑊ℎ/
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑏𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑡 − 𝑢𝑝 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 (𝑒𝑥𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑑
𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠)

To comply with the Code, EPI shall be calculated based on one of the following:
(a) Prescriptive Method including Building Envelope Trade-off Method
(b) Whole Building Performance Method
The ECBC is currently a voluntary programme, with a number of states adopting
it as a mandatory requirement. Further both Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design (LEED) and Green Rating for Integrated Habitat
Assessment (GRIHA) rating systems have adopted ECBC as a minimum
compliance requirement. BEE has developed a Star Rating programme for
buildings which is based on the actual performance of a building in terms of its
specific energy usage in kwh/sq. m/year. Th is programme rates office buildings
on a 1-5 Star scale, with 5 Star labelled buildings being the most efficient. Th e
scheme is propagated on a voluntary basis and the label provided under it is
applicable for a period of 5 years from the date of issue. Th e Star Rating
programme provides public recognition to energy efficient buildings, and
creates a ‘demand side’ pull for such buildings. Various categories of buildings
such as office buildings (day use and business process outsourcing (BPOs)),
shopping malls, hotels, hospitals and IT parks in the five climatic zones of the
country have been identified under the scheme.