Page 8 - Shelter - April 2023
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THEME PAPER
ADVANCING NET-ZERO BUILT ENVIRONMENTS:
PROMOTING EQUITABLE WELLNESS FOR ALL
RESHMA SINGH The built environment is the This vision can be enabled with
long-term policy and regulatory
converging
where
platform
YASHIMA JAIN otherwise discrete sectors of the capacity and improved
economy become integrated, investment decision-making for
such as residential, commercial sustainable built environment
“The fast growth of building and institutional buildings, and economic growth. This
floor space and energy use appliances for cooling, will also help advance India’s
intensity underscores the ventilation and air quality, decarbonisation, innovation, and
rapid growth of building transportation, and energy energy security goals.
operational energy demand. infrastructure including BACKGROUND
For residential buildings, it distributed energy resources, As the world’s fourth-largest
is projected to grow from 400 each with their associated economy, third-largest global
operational
embodied
and
TWh in 2020 to 2000 TWh emissions. Hence, to combat greenhouse gas (GHG)
in 2050, 5 times higher. In climate change, it is important to emitter, and fourth-largest
the commercial sector, total develop policy, investment, and electricity consumer, India
energy demand is projected to technology frameworks focused stands as a leader in climate
increase from 150 TWh in 2020 on driving decarbonisation action. The nation is on track
to 930 TWh in 2050, almost 7 of the built environment. No for 270 million people set to be
times. To slash the building building is an island, and added to its urban population
sector’s energy use and CO2 action on a community scale over the next two decades,
emission, it is critical to is where the potential benefits with the rise of 7 megacities
implement buildings that of decarbonising the built (IEA, 2021). India’s modern
environment are accrued. Net-
transitions
(rural-urban
consume low energy in zero Connected Communities migrations) and increasing
both their production and are whole campuses or (though disparate) wealth
operations.” neighbourhoods with energy- has implied almost a similar
efficient homes, offices, shops, scaling of per capita energy
and other buildings, each increase in the past couple
Key Words: Net Zero, connected with smart appliances and all of decades, with its co-issues
communities, decarbonisation, energy
powered by on-site renewable of increasing energy waste,
Ms. Reshma Singh (ReshmaSingh@lbl. generation providing energy pollution, and emissions.
gov) is Program Director, Lawrence resilience and wellness. Electric Relative to GDP, India emits
Berkeley National Lab, USA vehicle charging stations and twice as many GHGs as the
energy storage abound, and all world average (USAID, 2019).
Ms. Yashima Jain, (YJain@lbl.gov) Urban areas are becoming
is Climate Tech Program Manager, the buildings are knit together
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, USA by a community smart grid increasingly vulnerable to
with digital interconnections. extreme heat, flash floods,
6 HUDCO-HSMI Publication
