Sustainability: Zero Energy Districts

The New Global

Sustainability Phenomenon:
Zero Energy Districts
Sadagopan Seshadri

Chief
Chief -- Content
Content Development,
Development,
CE
CE -- Infrastructure
Infrastructure -- Environment
Environment

Clearing the air on what net zero

energy means:

and introduction of new renewable

energy sources.

The term net zero energy is used to

describe systems that produce renewable energy in amounts at least equal
to that which they consume or purchase from traditional utility sources. A
system can be a building, community
or district. For example, a net zero energy
building will produce renewable energy
from solar panels, wind turbines, and/
or geothermal systems in enough quantities to match or exceed the amount of
energy it buys from a non-renewable,
coal-burning electrical utility company.
Zero energy city/zero net energy
city uses no more energy than it is able
to generate locally. This is achieved
through a combination of measures to
reduce the consumption of electricity

Similarly we have others like:

46

Low Carbon city: The reference to

carbon (in this and the following two
terms) may reflect national aspirations
to create 'low carbon economies' often
as part of policies designed to mitigate
climate change. The focus is on the
physical aspects of cities: energy,
transportation and buildings. 'Carbon
'is sometimes used as shorthand for
greenhouse gases.
Carbon neutral city/ net zero cities:
similar to 'low carbon city' except defined
more strictly as a city which offsets
carbon / greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions such that its net emissions
are zero.
Zero carbon city: more specifically

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still, a city which produces no GHG and

is run exclusively on energy from
renewable sources. Ultimately it boils
down on reaching a sustainable habitat
which is possible only by a holistic
integrated approach.
Strategies for sustainable cities
Cities have a key role to play in the
transition towards sustainability. All
over the world, cities are rapidly
expanding and experiencing radical
social and economic transformations.
This results in complex challenges, but
also in opportunities, both globally and
locally. Cities can become centers for
creativity and invention that provide
opportunities for technological and
social innovations. A holistic integrated
approach is required to address problems
associated with city development and

Sustainability: Zero Energy Districts

advance knowledge in the design,

application and evaluation of policy and
business strategies and concrete actions
to meet these problems, i.e.

New governance models for sustainable urban areas

Strategies for energy and materially
efficient buildings
Strategies for sustainable urban infrastructure focusing on energy,
waste and ICTs

Here I look at the means and

strategies that India seems to be following
to reach the sustainability goal in terms
of 'promoting and strategizing near zero
energy cities/ districts. India should
leapfrog to advanced adaptable clean
energy technologies in the path towards
sustainable development. For these it
needs an experienced facilitator to collaborate in terms of a strong technology
and finance background.
There after I have tried to look at
possibility of Indian strategies for
Mumbai / Navi Mumbai and examine a
solar city in Kolkata!
But the whole idea is to showcase
that there are no piece meal solutions
and only an integrated design approach
to balance inputs and outputs of a
system can enable a 'net zero'. Therefore,
U,S examples of Fort Collins ZED,
Colorado and The Treasure Island, San
Francisco CA are showcased to show
how communities with commercial, institutional, residential and farms in them
are able to achieve a net zero, India
should put U.S 's substantial experience
to good use for its tier II and III development and extended townships
sprouting around its major cities besides
adopting ZED for the big cities themselves.
India Urban Energy Outlook
Half of humanity now lives in cities,
which will be 60% by 2030 90% of
future growth will take place in cities
Rapidly growing Indian cities will be
home to nearly 40% of Indians by 2021
(UN Habitat 2008).
Greenpeace report predicts climate
change impacts will force major po-

Energy efficient buildings play a key role in the transition towards sustainability

pulation movements from coastal cities

to inland already over burdened cities
(125 million people by 2050).
With ambitious development plans
and GDP growth India is poised to consume enormous amounts of energy and
resulting higher levels of emissions.
Urban energy demands outpace
supply with staggering rationing and
frequent blackouts/ brownouts. Energy
costs are driving up with limited
resources in cities

Energy Consumption in India is Growing

Rapidly
Clean Energy Investments to address
greenhouse-gas emissions will create
a global market of $13 trillion by 2050
(IEA 2008)
Countries such as India, China,
Turkey, Italy and U.S. have increased
their investments in clean energy by
over 100%
As of today, nearly a third of Indians
have no access to electricity at all, ac-

4000
Energy Demand
(millions of tons of oil equivalent)

3500

CHINA

3000
2500
US
2000

EU

1500
1000

INDIA

500

JAPAN

0
1990

2005

2015

2030

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47

Sustainability: Zero Energy Districts

1500
1400

Energy Requirements (TWh)

1300

Energy Availability (TWh)

1200

Peak Load (GW)

1100

Peak Served (GW)*

900
TWh

200
180
1098
153

154

969

1000

690
624

160
140

821

115

800
700

220

1392

120

100 96

100

600
80

500
400

60

300

40

200
20

100
0

0
X Plan
2006-07
*Extrapolated by PXIL

cording to the World Bank, giving the

country one of the lowest rates of per
capita electricity consumption in the
world, and leaving room for a phenomenal increase in demand to occur in
the coming years.
While energy-hungry India aims to
have nuclear power fulfilling five to
seven percent of its total demand by 2030,
it's also making a push for greater use
of renewables.
However its energy deficits are growing at a pace that surpass the supply
India's Energy Activities
India has taken a series of initiatives
for tackling energy security, climate
change and environmental sustainability, including:

XI Plan
2011-12

XII Plan
2016-17
Source: CEA

National Action Plan on Climate

Change (NAPCC), Integrated Energy
Policy developed by the Planning Commission, Announcements around COP15
e.g. reducing emission intensity by 20
to 25 percent by 2020, compared with
2005 levels and India Green Buildings
movement

US-India Green Partnership

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and
President Barack Obama launched the
Green Partnership on November 24,
2009 in Washington DC, to combat
climate change, ensuring their mutual
energy security, working towards global food security, and building a clean
energy economy that will drive investment, job creation, and economic
growth throughout the 21st century.
The two countries agreed on a
comprehensive Memorandum of Understanding to enhance cooperation
on Energy Security, Energy Efficiency,
Clean Energy, and Climate Change.
President Obama's India visit in
November 2010 strengthened this
versatile partnership.
BNL/DOE Facilitated MOUs
Atlanta and Ahmedabad in March 2008
-

Concerted National Missions

Sustainable Urban Energy developments can contribute to most of these
activities and especially for directed
Missions under the NAPCC, like:
-

National Solar Mission

National Mission for Enhanced
Energy Efficiency
National Mission on Sustainable
Habitat

National Water Mission

National Mission on Strategic
Knowledge for Climate Change

Legislated energy audit for public

water supply and waste water systems
Developing green building guidelines
Preparing a sustainability plan for
2030

Chicago and Shanghai in September

2010
-

Collaborating on geothermal, solar,

green buildings, fuel cell and energy
museums

Columbus/Franklin County and Hefei

in October 2011
-

collaborating on electric vehicles,

landfills, wetlands and green buildings

Promoting Low-Carbon Communities

Provide DOE technical assistance
on energy planning and Implementation in cities;
U.S. President Obama and Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh in the White House.

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Collaborate with national ministries

under bi-lateral partnerships
US-India Energy Dialogue
Ministry of Urban Development,
Ministry of Commerce & Industries
and Ministry of New and Renewable

Sustainability: Zero Energy Districts

Energy, Ministry of Power and State

and City Governments
Promote energy efficiency and renewable energy (EE&RE) in national plans and guidelines
Select cities/towns/industrial zones
to demonstrate case studies for lowcarbon development
Infuse EE&RE in city development
plans and implementation strategies

Partnership to Advance Clean Energy

(PACE)
Pace in Action: Selected Highlights
Since its inception, PACE has mobilized significant resources from both
governments and the private sector to
promote clean energy scale-up and
low-carbon growth.
$125 Million Public-private Joint
Research Center: In April 2012, both
countries announced the first consortia
awardees under the PACE Joint Clean
Energy Research and Development
Center. These joint U.S.-India, publicprivate consortia will dedicate efforts
towards the discovery of transformational scientific and technological
solutions in the areas of building efficiency, solar energy and advanced
biofuels. The center will involve over 95
government, private and university
organizations in a $125 million effort
over five years.
New 5-year, $20 Million Collaboration on Deployment: In June 2012,
the U.S. Agency for International
Development (USAID) launched a new
five-year technical assistance program
to support clean energy development
and scale up in partnership with the
Ministry of Power and the Ministry of
New and Renewable Energy. The $20
million contract will improve end-use
energy efficiency, increase the supply
of renewable energy, and adopt and
accelerate deployment of cleaner fossil
fuel technologies. The focus of the program will be on strengthening the enabling environment, increasing access
to finance, and enhancing institutional
and human capacity.
More Than $1.7 Billion Mobilized
for Clean Energy Finance: The United

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States has established a Clean Energy

Finance Center at the American Center
in New Delhi to support the financing of
clean technology, staffed with representatives from the U.S. Department of
Commerce, the State Department,
USAID, U.S. Trade and Development
Agency (USTDA), Overseas Private
Investment Corporation (OPIC), ExportImport Bank (Ex-Im), and the U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE). Since
PACE's inception, these agencies have
mobilized more than $1.7 billion in
public and private resources for clean
energy projects in India.
Private Sector Engagement: Both
countries launched the U.S.-India
Energy Cooperation Program (ECP) in
late 2010 to better leverage the U.S.
private sector role in clean energy deployment. With support from the U.S.
Trade and Development Agency
(USTDA) the ECP has grown to 16
member companies and has been
able to establish strong working channels for government-to-business technical and commercial partnerships and
to mobilize funding for a growing portfolio of clean energy projects in India.
Study Tours and Trade Missions:
USTDA sponsored the Clean Energy
Exchange Program, a series of four
reverse trade missions to the United

States in the areas of smart grid

expansion, solar power generation,
unconventional gas, and green buildings.
Overall, USTDA support for infrastructure
feasibility studies, reverse trade missions
and other technical assistance in the
Indian market has translated into at
least $1.7 billion in U.S. exports.
A Strong Bilateral Project Portfolio:
USTDA has funded feasibility studies
and pilot projects for smart grid
implementation with utilities in India
and private sector led solar power
generation. The two sides also continue
technical cooperation in support of
renewable energy and energy efficiency
deployment through USAID and DOE
and its national labs, including supporting
work on solar resource assessment
and mapping, solar technologies training
for Indian financial institutions, improved
wind resource estimates, data center
and IT office building efficiency, and
Energy Conservation Building Code
implementation at the local level.
Given these positives India should
strive for a leapfrog to zero energy city
concept in an integrated fashion. This
means holistic infrastructure development, which had been initiated with
liberalization but implementation needs
a real push. Here on are the elements
to be integrated, strategies to adopt
and much more.

CBD and Mumbai Inner City Revitalization

Heritage Precinct Revitalization

New Financial District

New back bay promenade

Nariman Point Redevelopment

New Cultural Hub

Multi-sector EE&RE Strategies for Mumbai Suburbs/ Navi Mumbai

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Sustainability: Zero Energy Districts

Construct all new government buildings showcasing green guidelines

Designate and incentivize near-zero
energy townships and development
zones
Progressively incorporate improving
green guidelines in development
regulations

5. Establish clean and efficient public/

private transportation services
interconnected with neighborhood
no-emission pooled vehicles using
locally produced renewable fuels
6. Encourage industrial symbiosis,
energy efficiency and green accounting at firm/ industry/ zone/ regional
level
7. Promote energy efficiency and
distributed energy/electricity/heat
generation from water supply,
waste water and solid waste systems;
including maximum water and waste
recycling
8. Establish management frameworks
for effective operation of urban
infrastructure and services and
develop frameworks for continuous
improvements in the plans based
on the performance of actual systems

4. Promote city and customer utilized

renewable energy based on local
resource availability, including

Based on these possible focused

Strategies Deploying EE&RE in
Mumbai Metropolitan region could be:

Organizing Development into Townships

Essential Elements for Energy Sustainability

Integrated EE&RE Planning Principles
A city/region consuming substantially low energy and producing at
least as much renewable energy as it
uses in a year with very efficiently planned
and operated sectors, including;
-

buildings
transportation
industries
water supply and sanitation
solid waste

NearZero Energy Cities - Essential

Elements
1. Integrate existing stock, future availability and accessibility of all resources, sectors, components and
subsystems and their inter-connection for comprehensive energy
planning for the city and surrounding communities
2. Develop efficient, ecologically responsible and compact mixed-use
communities with walkable, bikeable
and transit oriented transport reducing vehicle miles travelled
3. Design and maintain residential,
commercial and public buildings with
gradually improving green building
standards

co-generation
landfill gas or waste
water methane
local smart grid for integration
(Concentric Solar Thermal ,Solar
Photovoltaics, Building Integrated
PV Geothermal, Rooftop Wind)

photovoltaics
solar thermal
wind
geothermal
biofuels

Designate Green Zones Guidelines

Building Development Guidelines
Incentives from MMRDA/ city/state
EE & RE financing options and funds
Work with banks on setting up low

Rabi Rashmi Abasan (Solar Housing Complex) in the city of Rajarhat.

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Sustainability: Zero Energy Districts

A thoroughfare in Rajarhat lined with solar-powered streetlights.

interest financing
MNRE/MOUD/BEE/MPSE Funding
& Incentives

City of Rajarhat
The Indian Ministry of Urban Development is working with the US Department of Energy and US-based
Brookhaven National Laboratory to
create eight 'Near-Zero Energy Satellite
Towns'. Rajarhat, a fast growing new
township near Kolkata, was selected in
2010 to be the first of these.
The apartment complex in Rajarhat
is a symbol of that effort. Christened
Rabi Rashmi Abasan (Solar Housing
Complex), it is one of a growing number
of developments in Rajarhat that aim to
be 100 percent green. Ultimately, the
plan is to make all of Rajarhat township
just like Rabi Rashmi Abasan an entire
city run solely on renewable power. The
paths to this goal are ambitious: floating
the city's canals with solar panels, for

instance, and generating energy from

solid waste. Streetlights are being
converted to LEDs, and electric vehicles
have been introduced. It's a crucial effort
in a nation whose energy needs are set
to grow exponentially in the coming
decades.
I feel proud of my house, says
Debabrata Dutta of his little red-andyellow bungalow in Rajarhat township,
a new satellite city being built on the
northeastern edge of Kolkata. As a
technical manager who is working on
an initiative on ecological sustainability,
it's a home that appears perfectly suited
to him. The bungalow part of a complex
of 25 two-story houses built for India's
increasingly comfort-oriented middleclass, and is being billed as the country's
first fully integrated solar housing project.
The building cost was little high, admits
Dutta, but we have energy security
and we save on power consumption in
the long run.

Rabi Rashmi Abasan was conceived

by the West Bengal Renewable Energy
Development Authority (WBREDA) on
a plot of just under two acres of land.
Each home here generates two kilowatts
of power from solar tiles on its roof for
its own consumption. Anything beyond
that is fed back into the grid, and the
owner can draw power from the grid
when necessary the utility then pays the
homeowner, or vice-versa, depending on
net usage each month. Ultimately, the
complex uses net zero energy from the
grid or less.
This housing dazzles as a milestone and a trend-setter, says S P Gon
Chaudhuri, former Managing Director
of the West Bengal Green Energy Development Corporation and winner of
the International Green Oscar award in
2003 for spearheading solar projects
on the remote Bay of Bengal islands.
Though Rajarhat aspires to be a
completely green city, some have
criticized its urban design, but then
differences occur when the old city charm
goes missing.
Gon Chaudhuri agrees that Rajarhat
should be more mass-transit oriented.
While pointing out that the solar city
will have battery-driven cars for internal
roads, he adds, I think the more we
have public transport in Rajarhat, the
more the city will be green.
But the civic authorities of Rajarhat
claim the city will set global trends.
According to Debasish Sen, chairman
of Newtown Kolkata Development
Authority (NKDA) and Managing Directorcum-Chairman of the Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation

City of Rajarhat First of eight "Near Zero Satellite towns" setup in the collaboration of Indian UD Ministry with US DOE & Brookhaven National Laboratory

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Sustainability: Zero Energy Districts

renewable energy technology, as well

as on the active involvement of the
residents of the city.
The specifics:
-

New Belgium Brewing Co. was the largest private employer participating in the ZED.

(HIDCO), Rajarhat is not only in sync with

global benchmarks, but also with best
practices for new cities. This is a solar
city. Every rooftop has solar system, he
says. There are provisions for rainwater
harvesting, and we have a 480-acre ecopark amid the prime property area.
He adds that, besides adapting to
climate change, the city has been
designed to draw investment. Many
builders here voluntarily chose and got
LEED ratings. As a policy measure it is
a solar city and as per our master plan
we are encouraging people to go for
energy efficient methods.
Lessons From The U.S On ZEDs
Now for a look at the U.S. example
of near-zero energy eco district/campus
and the lessons they hold.

FortZED
Fort Collins, Colorado

Net-zero Energy District

Fort Collins Created America's First
Zero-Energy District. As with net-zero
buildings, the long-term goal of a ZED
is for power users within the district to
produce as much energy in any given
year as they collectively need to draw
from the grid. Downtown Fort Collins,
Colorado,USA, will be the largest area
in the world to run solely on the energy it
is able to produce itself known as a
zero energy zone. FortZED, is the result
of a collaboration between researchers,
Colorado State University, local businesses and authorities, as well as the
local government. To achieve its goal,
FortZED is counting on smart grid,

Residential and commercial consumers

Downtown Fort Collins, Colorado
Clean energy cluster University
Research, Utilities and Companies
Distributed Renewable energy (20
projects - solar PV, micro wind),
smart grid (advanced controls and
inverters), microturbines, plug-inhybrid, energy efficiency (smart
buildings, DSM, thermal efficiency)
Fosters local innovation, entrepreneurship and jobs
20-30% peak reduction of 45MW
Rebates for residential and commercial consumers
FortZED community challenge
take it to ZERO

Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay

As one of the initial 16 projects to
participate in Clinton Climate Initiative's
(CCI) Climate Positive Development
Program, the Treasure Island project
aspires to be one of the most sustainable
developments in the country
It is a sustainable redevelopment of
the 400ac man-made island in San
Francisco Bay. It received 2006 San
Francisco Design Honors Urban Design
Award.
The name comes from the traces of

New Belgium Brewing Co. captured and stored methane from wastewater treatment. One of its generators can be powered by this captured byproduct. Along with
solar panels, the technologies help New Belgium produce more than half its peak demand for electricity.

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Sustainability: Zero Energy Districts

The development will draw more than 50% of its energy from renewable sources.

gold rumoured to line the dredged river

delta mud that helped to create it,
Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay
will be the home of a highly-sustainable
urban community.
The plan for Treasure Island exhibits
the tenets of new urbanism, stressing
on creating compact, inter-connected
central communities that resurrect the
diversity, human scale and 'connectedness' of older, organically-grown urban
settings. New urbanism's great emphasis is on sustainability.
Arup consultants' recommendations
for Treasure Island promote energy
conservation and alternative energy
sources are:
Sustainability recommendations
By reorienting the street grid,
planners optimised solar exposure and
protection from wind to save energy on
lighting, heating, and cooling, while
making outdoor areas more hospitable.
Buildings will be designed to meet the
US Green Building Council's Gold standard for energy efficiency. Ninety percent of residents will live within a 10
minute walk of the commercial centre,
where they can access public transport
to points across the bay. More than half
the island's 400ac will remain as open
space, home to a new biologically-diverse ecosystem of native plant species.
Along with better energy efficiency and
reduced reliance on cars, the offsets

56

are expected to cut per capita carbon

emissions by 60%. Twenty acres will be
used as farmland to grow produce locally.
Carbon management
It is targeting LEED ND Platinum
certification with building performances
set to exceed the LEED Gold-equivalent
San Francisco Green Building Ordinance.
To achieve these ambitious carbon
and sustainability goals Arup identified
those strategies that proved technically
and economically feasible, improved
the community's environmental performance, and enhanced the experience
of living on the islands.
Next came the strategies included
wind and solar power, development of
a central plant to service the island, storm
water attenuation and wetlands treatment, on-island wastewater treatment
and grey-water reclamation, and a variety
of alternative transportation options for
residents and tourists.
Evaluation of carbon impact of the
various strategies, using internationally
recognised protocols and the CCI's
climate positive framework was made.
By starting with a clean slate for the
Treasure Island project master plan,
they significantly reduced demand and
improved the quality of supply of building
energy and transportation. Specifically,
the building-integrated energy efficiency
strategies shall improve through passive
design relating to street/building orien-

The Masterbuilder - April 2014 www.masterbuilder.co.in

tation, while use of public transit is

encouraged by design of a dense, mixeduse, transit-oriented development; all
leading to significantly reduced GHG
emissions.
Sustainability consultants are advising on transportation, site infrastructure, carbon management, and
sustainability strategies. In addition to
widespread use of solar power, recommendation is for on-island power and
waste water treatment, stormwater
attenuation, wetlands treatment and grey
water reclamation, as well as alternative
transport options for residents and
tourists.
The current timetable is that the first
residents will begin taking occupancy
in 2013 and 2014.
The Future Lies in 'Net Zero'
In five years, anyone would be crazy
to design a building that isn't green. But
I'll bet you that Green build in five years
won't just be about green buildings. It
will be about zero net energy buildings,
and about technologies to increase the
amount of excess energy building
owners can sell on the grid.
Former U.S President
Bill Clinton, Greenbuild
Author's Bio
The author leads our Delhi bureau.
An Engineer and qualified ADR professional (NALSAR alumnus),
Sadagopan Seshadri has been a
senior Contract Management Professional in large national & International
Companies. His domain experience is
in Building Products, Cement plants
and Mega Power project execution. He
has been an expert visiting faculty and
univ. examiner for Contract Management at the SSAA, IP University, New
Delhi.
Being passionate about Environment he has now turned to Landscape Projects design teamed with
like-minded architects & engineers for
sustainable landscapes development
He is vocal with his views on these
areas through his writings.
He can be reached at
design2xcel@gmail.com