BEE’s Neerman Awards Could be a Game Changer for Indian Energy Efficient Buildings

• Posted On: August 27, 2021

The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) announced the Neerman Awards for Energy Efficient Buildings in India on 16 July 2021. The Awards aim to acknowledge and encourage exemplary building designs that comply with BEE’s Energy Conservation Building Codes. The Awards will also help in popularizing information for efficient use and conservation of energy in the Indian building sector.

The Neerman Awards is a first of its kind initiative and can be pivotal in highlighting the benefits and best practices around energy efficient building design in the country; and to encourage more in the sector to follow suit. In order to ensure that the awards trigger momentum and scale up energy efficient building design, the event will be organized annually. An initiative such as this can go a long way in mainstreaming concepts of energy efficient buildings and on boarding more builders to take the energy efficiency route.

The Awards is one of the many concrete steps towards incentivizing building planners and architects to move towards constructing energy efficient and thermally comfortable buildings. India is currently situated in a risky place, where the Niti Aayog estimates 6-10 times increase in electricity demand in commercial buildings and 4-10 times increase in residential buildings during 2012 to 2047. Given that both residential and commercial buildings accounts for 31% of the electricity consumption in the country and is rising at 10-12% annually, the Neerman Awards have included categories for both kinds of buildings.

There are 14 classifications in total within the Neerman Awards, and the primary basis of evaluation will be adherence to the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC), 2017 and Eco-Niwas Samhita 2018 (ENS). The main award categories for commercial buildings are: hospitality, health care, assembly, shopping complex, educational, business, and mixed use. In the meanwhile, the categories for residential buildings are: affordable/subsidized housing and market rate housing.

To further encourage applicants to showcase creative and innovative thought, entries that demonstrate novel, high impact, or innovative energy conservation measures beyond the requirements of the codes will be specially recognized. The specific categories for this recognition will fall under the themes: building envelope, lighting and controls, comfort systems and controls, electrical and renewable energy system, and natural ventilation.

Once the applications are received, the awards evaluation will follow a 2-step process. After an initial assessment, a shortlist of applicants will be drawn up. Once that is completed, a detailed evaluation of the shortlisted projects will take place, along with cross-verification of the information that has been submitted by the applicants.

For the 2021 Neerman Awards the call for entries has started from 16 July and will be open till 15 September. For more information and to apply for the Awards, visit https://www.bee-neerman.com/

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• Vernica Prakash
  Vernica Prakash is the Associate Director at Greentech Knowledge Solutions Pvt. Ltd and has been associated with BEEP since 2014. Vernica specializes in climate-responsive building design and web-based outreach. She is involved in BEEP’s media engagement program, web outreach activities, External Movable Shading market development, project management, coordination, and reporting to Bureau of Energy Efficiency. Vernica holds a B. Arch from U.P. Technical University, Lucknow and a MA in Public Policy and Sustainable Development from TERI University, New Delhi.