SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy | SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure | SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities | SDG 13: Climate Action
NITI Aayog | Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) | Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA)
The NITI Aayog report, Scenarios Towards Viksit Bharat and Net Zero - Sectoral Insights: Buildings mentions that with 86% of India’s 2070 building stock yet to be constructed, the nation has a unique window to embed low-carbon pathways from the design stage. Buildings currently account for 30% of India’s GHG emissions, with operational and embodied emissions contributing almost equally. As urbanization rises to 65% by 2070, residential air conditioner ownership is projected to surge from 8% to 80%, making climate-responsive design and hyper-efficient cooling a necessity rather than an option. The transition to a Net Zero Scenario (NZS) involves tightening building codes like ECBC and ENS, regulating embodied carbon in materials like cement and steel, and scaling a circular economy for construction waste.
Strategic Pillars for a Sustainable and Resilient Building Sector The report identifies critical foundational pillars to decouple infrastructure growth from carbon intensity:
Mainstreaming Climate-Responsive Design: Leveraging passive cooling and thermal comfort standards to reduce the projected tenfold increase in residential cooling demand.
Decarbonizing Building Materials: Addressing Embodied Carbon by promoting secondary materials, industrial waste streams, and low-carbon alternatives in cement and brick production.
Strengthening Regulatory Enforcement: Expanding the coverage of the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) and Eco-Niwas Samhita (ENS) to include metrics for lifecycle carbon and resilience.
Market Transformation via Disclosure: Introducing mandatory energy performance disclosures and green public procurement to create demand for high-performance buildings.
Data-Driven Performance Monitoring: Establishing a national building energy data platform to bridge current information gaps and track real-time progress toward Net Zero.
What is the difference between “Operational” and “Embodied” emissions in buildings? Operational emissions are the greenhouse gases produced during the everyday use of a building, such as the energy consumed for lighting, heating, and cooling. Embodied emissions, on the other hand, are the carbon footprint associated with the entire lifecycle of building materials—including the mining, manufacturing, transportation, and construction of cement, steel, and bricks. While India has historically focused on operational efficiency through appliance labeling, the Net Zero transition requires equal focus on embodied carbon to address the sector’s total climate impact.
Policy Relevance
The NITI Aayog findings represent a transition from discrete appliance efficiency to a “Lifecycle Carbon” approach for the entire built environment. By institutionalizing the Net Zero Scenario, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and BEE are creating a framework to ensure that India’s rapid urbanization (reaching 65% by 2070) does not lock the country into high-emission infrastructure.
Strategic Impact:
Driving Industrial Innovation: Regulating embodied carbon provides a direct demand signal for the Ministry of Steel and Ministry of Commerce to scale “Green Cement” and “Green Steel” production.
Enhancing Urban Resilience: Climate-responsive building codes act as a frontline defense against increasing heat stress, protecting public health and reducing the peak load on the national power grid.
Creating Green Construction Jobs: Scaling low-carbon construction techniques requires a massive reskilling effort, offering the Ministry of Skill Development a roadmap for future-ready vocational training.
Leveraging Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI): A national building energy data platform can be integrated with Swayam and other digital portals to automate energy audits and compliance tracking for urban local bodies.
Follow the full report here: NITI Aayog: Scenarios Towards Viksit Bharat and Net Zero - Buildings