NET-ZERO ENERGY BUILDINGS: ENERGY SUFFICIENCY, EFFICIENCY AND GENERATION

The building sector is a major contributor to emissions. Net Zero buildings would be a crucial step towards a sustainable future

- MILI MAJUMDAR

India was the third largest emitter of carbon dioxide by volume in 2020, although its per capita emissions were lower than the world average, according to the UN’s Emissions Gap Report (EGR). India is committed to reach net zero emissions by 2070 as the target date to keep global temperature rises to 1.5C.

India has also confirmed pledges to generate 50% of its electricity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030, and its target for maintaining forest cover, which acts as a carbon sink.

Building sector is a major contributor to emissions. That’s exactly why it is essential to introduce sustainable steps like construction of net-zero energy buildings to curb the issue. In 2019 the building sector emitted about 12 gigatons of GHG which is 21% of global emissions. If we look at further percentage breakup of the total emissions from building sector we see that a significant part of it comes from the off site energy sources that produce electricity to power buildings, on site sources, and importantly from the two major materials that go into construction of buildings that is cement and steel.

What are net zero buildings? According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, net-zero energy buildings produce the same amount of energy that they consume annually. In certain cases, there can also be an energy surplus, which means they produce more energy than they consume. Decarbonisation is the foremost principle of arriving at net zero buildings. At this point it is important to note that most definitions around net zero buildings only consider reducing scope one and scope two emissions from the buildings and generating adequate renewable energy on or off site to meet it’s balance energy requirement.