A workshop was recently organised in Rajkot city of Gujarat to discuss the 18-month plan for building energy efficiency under the Building Efficiency Accelerator (BEA) project, funded by UNEP-GEF and in partnership with World Resources Institute.

Rajkot is a deep dive partner for this project, with ICLEI South Asia as a technical consultant to lead Rajkot’s building energy efficiency through reforms in local building bylaws, identification and implementation of priority projects in building sector, and institutionalising a monitoring framework. The SE4ALL Building Efficiency Accelerator (BEA) is one of the six individual accelerators that were formed in 2011 under the “Global Energy Efficiency Accelerator Platform” that acts as a bridge between the business and the governments.

The work plan of Rajkot highlights specific goals, targets and methods on policy, project and MRV mechanism under the BEA programme. The goals and timeline for various activities were discussed and finalized through an interactive session with all the stakeholders.

At the meeting, stakeholders also provided suggestions on implementation of the draft “green buildings” policy measures that exist for the city. 

As a part of the initiative, a technical guidebook on green buildings’ codes and standards will be prepared for Rajkot city. During the workshop, it was concluded that the technical guidebook should be customized as per suitability of Rajkot’s climate and should incorporate traditional green buildings methods, along with other national/international codes and standards. "

A technical training session was also conducted by Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) at the workshop to create awareness among officials of the Rajkot Municipal Corporation, builders, developers, architects, civil engineers, manufacturers, education and finance institutions that will guide them in decision making on energy efficiency in building sector.

As the next step under the programme, stakeholders’ suggestions, traditional, national and international green building norms will be analyzed and integrated to prepare a draft policy document.