Ms Sumedha Malaviya from World Resources Institute spoke about energy usage in Apartment Complexes and ways of reducing this energy usage using sustainable methods. She also presented simple ways in which electricity costs can be brought down for common area energy consumption.

1. Energy efficiency
interventions for common
areas of apartment
complexes

3. ABOUT WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE INDIA
WRI India is a
research organization
that turns big ideas
into action at the
nexus of
environment,
economic opportunity
and human well-

4. TIDE is a Bangalore based NGO, providing technology solutions to
meet societal needs. TIDE and WRII are running a successful
electricity conservation program VidyutRakshaka.
ABOUT TIDE

5. ENERGY USE IN APARTMENT COMPLEXES
Source: BEE Design guidelines for energy efficient multistorey residential buildings for
hot and dry and composite climates
• Common area electricity bills accounted for in monthly/annual maintenance charges
• Major opportunities to save energy and implement renewable energy and reduce
emissions
• Potential market opportunities

6. STUDY OF ENERGY USE IN APARTMENT
COMPLEXES IN BANGALORE
1
Understand energy use in common areas and
energy savings potential
2
Reduce energy demand through energy
efficiency measures
3
Meet portion of reduced energy demand
through RE
4 Facilitate engagement with service providers
and vendors on EE and RE projects

7. SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY
Scope
• 10 apartment complexes and
4700 flats
• 4.7 MW total sanctioned load
• 5.5 million units- annual
electricity consumption in
common areas
Methodology
• Walkthrough assessments
• Collection of electricity bills (3
years)
• Examination of DG logs
• Energy audit of pumps
• Data analysis
• Identification of EE and RE
interventions
• Customized recommendation
reports

8. KEY FINDINGS- BREAK UP OF ELECTRICITY USE
)

9. KEY FINDINGS- GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
• Excess sanctioned loads
• Electricity costs account for 15-25% of annual maintenance charges
• Lack of systematic maintenance of electricity bills
• Absence of standard procedures for monitoring energy or water use
• Presence of analog electricity meters in some apartment complexes
• Absence of sub-metering of any kind (e.g. water flow meters)
• Unit cost of electricity generated from DG set ranged from 9 to 22
INR/kWh
• Functional RWH and STPs in some places

10. FIELD VISITS

11. KEY FINDINGS
Common
area service
Lighting Common area lighting
comprises entirely of LEDs
(4/10). Some have occupancy
sensors
Old, inefficient tube lights and
bulbs; LED lights kept on through
the day and no occupancy sensors
Pumping Automatic water level
controllers installed with
pumps; good maintenance in
some complexes
Leakages, improper sizing of
pumps, multiple rewinding of
motors; very old pumps (>10
years)
DG set Digital meter DG sets; Annual
Preventive Maintenance (AMCs)
for DGs
Poor or no DG logs; poor
ventilation of DG rooms
Lifts/elevators AMCs Lift lights without automatic
controllers

12. RECOMMENDED BEST PRACTICES
Communicate
Awareness and capacity
building of RWA members,
residents, supervisors and
ground personnel; simple
toolkits and guides to instill best
practices
Upgrades and retrofits
Use BEE star rated pumps
and LEDs; ensure proper
sizing and location lights
and pumps; auto sensors
and controllers
O&M
AMC for pump sets;
maintenance of major
electrical assets, DG
loading studies and
maintenance of DG logs

13. TOTAL ENERGY SAVINGS POTENTIAL
Recommendation Average projected annual monetary savings as a
percentage of annual electricity cost
Surrendering excess sanctioned load 6% to 10%
Replacing lighting systems with energy
efficient lights
5% to 10%
Occupancy sensors in elevators 2% to 5%
Diesel generator
• Maintenance of DG logs
• Dry run fuel consumption
• Optimal loading of DGs
Could not be estimated due to lack of baseline data
Pump performance study 10-30%
Total savings for 10 apartment
complexes
23% to 55%

14. EXAMPLE OF ONE APARTMENT COMPLEX-
ECONOMICS
Recommendations Area / utility Annual savings
possible (INR)
Surrender the excess sanctioned load Panel Room 15, 984
Surrender the unused meter
connections
Panel room 16, 500
Replacement of T12 tube lights with
T5 tube lights
Basement 93, 574
Replacement of halogen lamps with
LED floodlights
6132
Auto – controller in Elevator for
lighting
1,17, 208
Total indicative annual savings INR 2,49, 398
8% of the
annual
electricity
cost

15. WAY FORWARD
Potential market opportunities
– Annual Maintenance contracts only for pumps
– Energy Service Companies providing end to end solutions
– Solar PV for meeting a part of common area energy loads (10 to
30% depending on area available)
Next steps for WRII and TIDE
– Energy needs assessment survey- deep-dive convening on EE-
RE implementation in October/November 2018
– Further assess feasibility of demand aggregation and possible
business models
– Energy management booklet for apartment complexes

16. THANK YOU
We thank MacArthur Foundation for their
support!
Contact-
• Sumedha Malaviya-
Sumedha.Malaviya@wri.org
• Sumathy Krishnan- k.sumathy@tide-
india.org