Dr. Andreas Baum,
Ambassador of Switzerland to India, and Raj Pal, Economic Adviser, MoP,
Government of India, have inked the pact to extend the Indo-Swiss Building
Energy Efficiency Project (BEEP) by five years, based on successes achieved by
the project in its first phase.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) had
been signed between the Governments of India and Switzerland for a joint
project on energy efficiency of buildings in November 2011, for a duration of
five years. The objective of the collaboration has been to reduce the overall
energy consumed in buildings through sharing of best practices between the two
countries in energy efficient design, construction and technologies. The Bureau
of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
(SDC) were designated as implementing agencies for the project. Based on the
excellent results achieved by the partnership, both governments have jointly
decided to extend the MoU to November 2021.
Speaking on this milestone, the
Ambassador said, “We are delighted on the extension of the MoU with India’s
Power Ministry for cooperation in energy efficiency of buildings. Switzerland
and India have been steady partners in progress – in fact, SDC’s contribution
in this partnership spans more than five decades. Since 2011, SDC’s India
programme has focused specifically on the issue of climate change mitigation
and adaptation. Towards this end, the extension of the MoU today renews our
collective vision in achieving India’s energy efficiency goals.”
Shri Raj Pal affirmed the Ambassador’s
statement, saying, “With rapid economic growth, the demand for energy services
will only increase in India. The Government is promoting greater use of renewable
energy and more efficient demand management through innovative policy measures.
I am glad that the Ministry along with SDC has taken this initiative dedicated
to delivering results in achieving energy efficiency goals. Based on the
excellent results of the Indo-Swiss collaboration, we jointly decided to
continue collaborating on this important matter for another five years.”
BEEP’s follow-up phase (2017 – 2021)
will continue to hold integrated building design workshops with public and
private builders; provide technical assistance in developing innovative
building technologies; develop regulatory instruments, guidelines and tools for
the design of energy efficient buildings; and disseminate knowledge products.
The focus of the phase will be on outreach and mainstreaming the outputs of the
previous phase in order to achieve a larger impact on the reduction in energy
consumption in buildings. This will support BEE’s efforts in mainstreaming
energy-efficient building design and in developing energy-efficient building
technologies with a potential for mass applications.
The extended MoU will be exchanged
between the two governments at the international conference – Energy Efficient
Building Design: Experiences and Way Forward, on November 28, 2016. The
three-day international conference that will showcase and discuss the results
and experiences from BEEP’s first phase, will bring together 200 building
energy experts from both India and overseas to exchange knowledge and
experience on some of the key aspects of building energy efficiency.
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