USTDA, ANSI & CII Workshop in India Highlights Clean Energy: Data Centers and Green Buildings
7/29/2019
Buildings Innovation Guide Debuts at Event
More than 70 attendees joined the recent American National Standards Institute (ANSI) workshop on Clean Energy: Data Centers and Green Buildings in Hyderabad, India. The event, held on July 15-16, was the third of six workshops to be held in India under the United States Trade and Development Agency's (USTDA) U.S.-India Standards and Conformance Cooperation Program (SCCP), Phase II. The SCCP Phase II is executed in coordination with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), and the workshop was co-hosted with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
The workshop brought together Indian clean energy stakeholders to reflect on the successes and challenges for data centers and green buildings, enhance exposure to international standards and codes, and facilitate conversation on actions that need to be taken. Future anticipated collaboration will help India meet its energy efficiency targets, specifically for data centers and green buildings.
Attendees represented U.S. companies, U.S. standards developing organizations, U.S. government, Indian government ministries, regulators, private-sector organizations, trade associations, smart city experts, standards developers, and individual companies. Presentations by U.S. and Indian experts from the private and public sectors focused on standards-related aspects of data centers and green buildings in India. U.S. private-sector speakers included individuals from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), the International Code Council (ICC), and E3HS IT Consulting, LLC.
The Indian data centers and green building sectors were represented by the following private and public organizations: BIS, CII, Johnson Controls (India), International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad, and the India Green Building Council (IGBC) amongst others.
The first day of the workshop opened with remarks from representatives of USTDA and the U.S. Commercial Service. U.S. companies shared best practices and provided a standards developing perspective on green building innovations. Presenters examined capacity building for data centers and green buildings as well as emerging efficiency opportunities and standards.
LBNL led discussions in the green building workshop and fostered robust discussions surrounding de-carbonization of green and high performance buildings and the digitization of internet of things (IoT) in buildings. Presenters gave case studies on high-performance buildings, energy efficiency in buildings, and participated in a panel discussion on grids, generation, EVs, and smart city infrastructure.
The event included the debut of the Buildings Innovation Guide (BIG). The document, presented to Surina Rajan, BIS Director General, and presenters, is a premier guidebook authored by researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, is a result of historic partnerships and a Memorandum of Understanding signed between U.S. and India, which focused on developing energy efficiency in both nations.
The final day focused on data center efficiency, and experts underscored prevailing practices in data centers for energy efficiency in relation to standards and codes. Experts from the U.S. and India discussed energy efficiency standards and their international applications (how they can be applied in India), as well as the Indian Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC). The Indian Bureau of Energy Efficiency recently included data centers in the ECBC and the IGBC and LBNL, along with a group of industry advisors are developing guidelines and recommendations for implementation.
LBNL also led conversations regarding roles of code compliance to achieve higher energy efficiency and noted how codes and standards can help India achieve much higher levels of energy efficiency performance in data centers.
The final agenda, presentations and photos from the workshop can be found on the SCCP II Sharepoint link.
The U.S.- India Standards and Conformance Cooperation Program (SCCP) Phase II is a comprehensive project to facilitate interaction and engagement between the public and private sectors in the United States and India. The goal is to increase cooperation in the areas of standards, conformity assessment, and technical regulations in three sectors of interest to industry: smart and sustainable cities, water and sanitation, and clean energy.
Sponsored by the USTDA and coordinated by ANSI and CII, the program aims to facilitate India's development of transparent and streamlined standards, conformity assessment, and a technical regulations system. SCCP also aims to provide information on U.S. and Indian standards and conformance and U.S. technical assistance to facilitate increased U.S.-India trade and investment; encourage greater Indian public and private sector participation in international and regional standards and conformity assessment fora; and support increased cooperative exchange between U.S. and Indian counterpart organizations working to address trade-related issues at the technical level.
