Constructing climate-smart buildings

Context

India’s rapid urbanisation leads to a need to construct more buildings. According to current estimations, the country’s building activities will increase by five between 2015 and 2050. To address the need for affordable housing in urban areas, the Indian government launched the "Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U)" funding programme in 2015. Buildings that are currently being erected will be around for the next 50 to 60 years, and they have the potential to improve a climate-friendly use of resources. A significant proportion of the expected energy demand in the next few years is expected to come from the use of the required cooling systems in these new buildings. Thus, indoor thermal comfort is an essential feature that must be taken into account when designing and constructing environmentally friendly affordable housing buildings.

Objective

The climate resilience and thermal comfort in newly built affordable housing in India are being enhanced by adopting environmentally friendly low-impact design and materials and using the best available construction technology.

Approach

The project promotes more climate-resilient buildings by using passive design strategies and sustainable locally available materials to combat the climate change impact. The most important fields of action of the project are:

1. Establishing light house project (LHP)cluster cells at construction sites where innovative construction technologies are applied and using these LHPs as pilot projects.
2. Developing the Thermal Comfort Action Plan 2050 and standard guidelines to ensure better temperature comfort in affordable housing.
3. Setting up training programmes on thermal comfort in affordable housing in India to enhance the awareness on thermal comfort and provide professionals and senior government officials with necessary knowledge for framing thermal comfort policy and integration processes.
4. Establishing a Catalogue of climate specific replicable design packages for affordable housing that will allow developers to choose from standard designs and specifications, as well as materials and innovative construction technologies, to construct sustainable affordable housing that will provide enhanced thermal comfort.
5. Supporting the use of new and innovative construction methods through international partnerships and knowledge exchange.

Last update: May 2023