AKTU to make government buildings energy efficient

LUCKNOW: The faculty of architecture and planning (FoAP) at the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University (AKTU) will suggest ways and solutions to make govt buildings more energy efficient and to handle temperature extremes.
The UP New and Renewable Energy Development Agency (UPNEDA), AKTU and Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC) have joined hands on the advancement of building energy codes, their merger with the existing building permission process and policy inputs and for capacity building of a pool of professionals and govt officials for the implementation process of the building energy codes along with building energy efficiency initiatives.
“We are all seeing, hearing and experiencing the drastic effects of heat. It is imperative to work in collaboration, with technology and with policy and we are heading for a very fruitful collaboration,” said FoAP dean Vandana Sehgal.
During a workshop organised by the department of housing and urban planning, department of environment, forests and climate change in collaboration with NRDC and knowledge partners AKTU on Wednesday, a memorandum of understanding was signed by UPNEDA director Anupam Shukla, AKTU’s FoAP dean Vandana Sehgal and country head of NRDC India, Dipa Singh Bagai on Wednesday. “UP faces a critical challenge posed by increasing temperatures, rapid urbanisation and the resultant increase in the need for cooling. In the context of these challenges, solutions such as cool roofs and surfaces provide low carbon, cost-effective cooling solutions that can help people cope with extreme heat, manage urban heat island (UHI) effects and mitigate the need for increasing air-conditioning,” said officials. Officials said AKTU’s FoAP, UPNEDA and NRDC will collaborate for workshops, webinars and other opportunities for knowledge exchange, information dissemination and training activities for relevant stakeholders, exchange of experiences with other institutions and other forms of cooperation on UHI mitigation and cool roofs, among others.