With direct policy action in the residential sector in India, it is possible to achieve a 57% energy savings by 2050 compared to business as usual, according to a report published recently by the Global Buildings Performance Network (GBPN) and the Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology University.

The report, “Residential Buildings in India: Energy Use Projections and Savings Potentials”, provides decision makers with recommendations about future actions to achieve deep energy savings from the residential building sector while generating a wide range of positive economic, environmental and social opportunities. The report investigates four possible residential electricity consumption projections up to 2050 compared to today’s levels: business-as-usual, moderate, aggressive and very aggressive. Under the business-as-usual scenario, electricity consumption could rise by more than eight times by 2050 compared to 2012 levels. However, using focused policy and market efforts, the moderate, aggressive, and very aggressive strategies can respectively limit the consumption increases to five times, four times and three times the current energy use, which would represent relative energy savings of 27%, 44% and 57% compared to business as usual.

GBPN, a Clean Energy Solutions Center partner, provides policy expertise and technical assistance to advance building energy performance and realise sustainable built environments for all.