Thermally Comfortable Affordable Housing: A Study On Residential Building Code In India (2021)
Authors: Sneha Asranil, Rajan Rawal, Yash Shukla, Peter Graham, Priyanka Bhanushali, Arjun Desai Abstract:
On an average, India has more than 3000 Cooling Degree Days (CDD). The multifamily public housing being constructed under India’s Prime Minister Awas Yojana (PMAY) is aimed at providing formal housing to the society’s Economic Weaker Section (EWS). It is essential that this housing delivers thermally comfortable
indoors to the occupants. This study mapped the design and construction practices followed under PMAY Urban (PMAY-U) against India’s Residential Energy Building Code, Eco Niwas Samhita (ENS). The metric prescribed in ENS is Residential Envelope Transmittance Value (RETV). For 80 PMAY-U projects, information related to spatial design, and walling assemblies was collated. 30 projects were short-listed for detailed analysis. The RETV for selected projects was calculated. The analysis demonstrated that walling assemblies and technologies having a lower thermal transmittance value (U-value) resulted in meeting the ENS prescribed RETV numbers, hence, code compliance. The study further extended to assess the energy performance of the housing unit by exploring the change in walling assemblies. The change in thermally comfortable hours were reported in the range of 4145 and 6034, and Energy Performance Index (EPI) of the dwelling units were reported between 64 and 68 kWh/m2/year for the various walling assemblies.
Keyword: PMAY, Residential Building Code, Eco Niwas Samhita, Adaptive Thermal Comfort Presented at: Comfort At The Extremes, CATE’21, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, October 2021
Supported by:
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy Govt. of India, Gujarat Energy Development Agency, U.S. Agency for International Development iNDEXTb (Industrial Extension Bureau) Govt. of Gujarat, Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation, New Delhi
