Indira Paryavaran Bhavan, India’s first net-zero energy building, has set high energy-savings goals

 On 25th Feb, Indira Paryavaran Bhavan in New Delhi, named after India’s former Prime Minister, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. It is India’s first net-zero energy building featuring innovative solutions for solar energy production, maximum energy saving and minimum energy requirements.

The building is constructed by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) to host the Ministry of Environment and Forests offices.

Indira Paryavaran Bhavan is meant to be a state-of-the-art landmark in terms of sustainability, being uniquely powered by solar energy and adopting green building concepts such asoptimisation of energy and water requirements, water recycling, conservation of natural shaded areas and vegetation to reduce ambient temperature, maximise energy savings and minimise operation costs.

“For this urban project, with very limited rooftop space and high energy generation requirement; the selection of high-efficiency solar panels was the most critical aspect. Thanks to SunPower solar panels, we can now hope to achieve the stringent goal of net-zero energy for this building,” said Ram Avtar, CMD, Swadeshi Civil Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. who delivered this project.

Solar: a unique and endless source of energy
Given the high energy generation requirements and the limited rooftop area, SunPower high-efficiency solar panels were chosen as an effective solution to fully cover the building’s energy needs. The panels are also covered by a 25-year combined power and product warranty.

The building’s roof frame structure has been designed to accommodate solar panels installed on a 5 degree tilt mounting structure in order to maximise the installed power and the overall energy output.

A ‘green’ commitment
As part of CPWD’s mission and commitment to sustainable architecture, all the newly-built governmental properties in India are rated a minimum of 3-Star from Green Rating forIntegrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA). Indira Paryavaran Bhavan raises the bar in terms of green building standards as it is the first public building to generate power on-site and it istargeted to achieve both a 5-Star rating from GRIHA and Platinum rating from Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED).

SunPower in India
• More than 32 MW of SunPower Oasis power plants are in operation in Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
• Member of the Solar Energy Society of India (SESI) and Solar Energy Association, Gujarat.

Project overview
Project location : New Delhi
SunPower product : SunPower E20/333 solar panels
System size : 930 kW
Covered area : 6,000 m²
Number of panels : 2,844
Completion date : June 2013
System integrator : Swadeshi Civil Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd.