Out of the total electricity consumed in the building sector, about 75% is used in residential buildings. The gross electricity consumption in residential buildings has been rising sharply over the years. For instance, the consumption figure rose to about 260 TWh in 2016-17 from about 55 TWh in 1996-97. That is an increase by more than four times in 20 years. Projections show it rising to anywhere between 630 and 940 TWh by 2032. Among various reasons, increased use of decentralized room based air-conditioning units in homes for thermal comfort is an important reason contributing to this rapid increase in the electricity use in residential buildings. The demand for air-conditioning will continue its exponential growth with improvement in household incomes and will become the dominant contributor of GHG emissions nation-wide owing to increased electricity consumption. This situation calls for an immediate energy conservation action plan.

Given the current and anticipated rapid growth in the residential building stock across India and the consequent opportunities as well as the necessity for energy conservation in this sector, the Energy Conservation Code for Residential Buildings is established by the Ministry of Power.

The development of Eco-Niwas Samhita for the state of Assam is under progress and will be published very shortly.