To improve the energy efficiency in the new commercial buildings, the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) was created. ECBC was launched by the Ministry of Power (MoP), Government of India, in May 2007, as the first step towards promoting energy efficiency in the commercial building sector. The Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) sets minimum energy standards for new commercial buildings having a connected load of 100 kW or contract demand of 120 kVA or more. The effective implementation of code provides comfort to occupants by adopting passive design strategies & day light Integration. It is technologically neutral, promotes renewable energy and also emphasizes on the life cycle cost of building. The updated code was launched in 2017, which had additional priorities of renewable energy integration, ease of compliance, inclusion of passive building design strategies and flexibility for the designers.

ECBC 2017 is one of the first building energy codes to recognize beyond code performance. One of the major updates to the code is inclusion of incremental, voluntary energy efficiency performance levels. There are three levels of energy performance standards in the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) i.e. ECBC, ECBC Plus, Super ECBC. In ascending order of efficiency, ECBC compliant building has approx. 25% savings, ECBC+ building approx. 35% savings and compliance with Super ECBC building will show energy savings by 50% or more as compared to conventional building.

The Government of Assam published the Assam Energy Conservation Building Code 2021 on 25.02.2021 through “The Assam Gazette” particularly for the state of Assam.