EcoCommercial Building in India shows positive energy balance [Mar 2012]

One year after the inauguration of Bayer MaterialScience’s emissions-neutral office building in Greater Noida, 40 kms southeast of New Delhi, the energy balance is positive, as expected. According to a company statement, 72,000 kWh of energy were generated with the help of the photovoltaic system installed on the roof, whereas the building used nearly 64,000 kWh over the same period. The net result is a surplus of more than 8,000 kWh of energy.
“The building is designed to use 50 per cent less electricity than comparable buildings in our region,” says Ram SaiYelamanchili, who heads Bayer MaterialScience’s EcoCommercial Building program in India. The objective of this global network of experts is to support the responsible parties in the construction industry with the planning and erection of particularly energy-efficient buildings and the rehabilitation of existing buildings for greater energy efficiency.
“The building meets 100 per cent of its energy needs via the photovoltaic system on the roof, which is aligned with the path of the sun. This enabled us to avoid the emission of 67 metric tons of carbon dioxide last year, which corresponds to the CO2 emissions of around 20 vehicles,” adds Yelamanchili.
The cubic, two-storey building with roughly 900 square meters of floor space was designed and optimised for the region’s sub-tropical climate on the basis of comprehensive computer simulations. Polyisocyanurate thermal insulation shields the building envelope against the heat, reducing the amount of energy required for air conditioning. The products and systems used were sourced from the region.

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