Papers by prajakta kulkarni
-manager’s Journal on Power Systems Engineering, 2019
In order to address the double-pronged challenge of energy security and climate change, it is imp... more In order to address the double-pronged challenge of energy security and climate change, it is important for India to tap into its renewable energy resources to replace fossil fuel generated energy that adversely impacts the environment, in terms of resource use and GHG , particularly CO2 emissions. Technologies that harness this renewable energy need to be deployed at the points of consumption. Pune city in the heart of the state of Maharashtra faces rapid urbanization and a burgeoning demand for electricity. In fact, where energy consumption is concerned, the residential sector is the dominant sector amongst all others, consuming 40% of the total utility's supply. Of particular interest are high rise residential towers, which are expected to dominate the city's urban landscape in the near future. These account for a large energy demand, given the high density of tenements housed in a comparatively small building footprint. It is possible to supplement the energy consumption of these high rise residential buildings using renewable energy. With a low foot-fall, free space and good exposure to the sunlight, rooftops of these high rise residential buildings have potential for installing renewable energy systems like Solar Photo-Voltaics (SPV). This study aims to determine the rooftop SPV potential for a typical high rise residential building - 12 to 15 storeys with apartments for middle income group residents. Two complexes in Pune with 5 to 6 such buildings were studied for their electricity consumption and the potential of their rooftops to generate electricity from SPV systems towards meeting this consumption. Percentage of total energy demand of the apartment which can be supplemented with renewable energy was estimated. Payback calculations were done to assess the viability of capital investment in the RTPV systems. It was found that rooftops can meet 100% of the common electricity demand and generate revenue with a low payback period of 4 years.
India, like many countries is an emerging economy which is urbanising rapidly. The construction s... more India, like many countries is an emerging economy which is urbanising rapidly. The construction sector plays a vital role in this economic growth and development but exerts a lot of environmental pressure. The sector is a huge consumer of resources as well as a generator of pollutants during the construction as well as the operation phase. The building sector consumes 30% of the total electricity consumption out of which 72% is consumed by the residential sector. New residential buildings are constructed by incorporating measures of energy efficiency as well as use of renewable energy but existing residential buildings are often neglected in the energy efficiency debate. India's existing residential buildings have a great potential and opportunities in reducing the total energy consumption. Thus the aim of the research is to understand the energy usage of the existing residential buildings and the need of energy conservation measures for the same. The existing residential building stock in Pune was identified and studied for its energy usage. Different typologies of residential buildings based on area was identified and its energy usage pattern was studied from the energy bills for one year. As these buildings will continue to consume the same amount of energy (or more) and are here to stay for at least 30-40 more years, it becomes a matter of great concern. Furthermore, the EPI (Energy Performance Index) are calculated for the selected samples and compared with the EPI of a Green Rated building. Analysis is led to the understanding of energy efficiency achieved in these buildings. The research emphasizes on the need to improve the existing residential buildings and prioritizes the methods of energy efficiency upgrades.
Global warming and ozone layer depletion are the highlighted issues of sustainable development, m... more Global warming and ozone layer depletion are the highlighted issues of sustainable development, more than one third of global greenhouse gas emission is occurring due to building sector and they are also responsible for largest source of these emissions. The building industry plays an important role in the energy consumption of the nation, includes both embodied energy and operational energy. There has been more attention given to operational energy reduction over assessment of embodied energy in building envelope material. In residential buildings the use of embodied energy is accounted for up to 40% of life-cycle energy has been formulated from the resent research. The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze appropriate wall assemblies for embodied energy which reflects in reduction of global warming and ozone depletion potential. The methodology adopted for the study includes comparison of different wall assemblies for embodied carbon from building material. Tally®, a software Plug in the Revit is used to quantify the embodied carbon impact of building materials and provides number of environmental impact measurements including Global warming potential, ozone depletion potential and embodied carbon of building enclosures and finish material. The results delivered that the building envelope made up of cavity wall performed better in all the environmental impact measurements.
Building sector uses about 40% of global energy and is one of the major contributors of GHG emiss... more Building sector uses about 40% of global energy and is one of the major contributors of GHG emissions. Considering long life span of buildings, it was realised worldwide that incremental improvements in energy efficiency will not help to solve the climate change issue; this initiated emergence of new building concept of NZEBs. The Indian building sector consists predominately of the residential sector, which accounts for up to 24% of the total energy consumption. Currently, Indian residential sector is not covered by any energy related regulation which is a matter of concern. Most of the residential building stock that will be there in 2030 is yet to come-up in the country need to address the issue of energy saving. Considering the severity of the issue it is found that energy saving measures currently taken in Indian residential sector are not capable to attain sustainability targets. It has become imperative to take more advanced and efficient measures like aim for NZEBs for future construction. This paper aimed to put forward the importance of NZEB concept in the residential sector to achieve energy and emission savings, which can finally contribute to a larger goal of achieving climate change challenge taken up by India.
India ranks sixth in the world in total energy consumption and Industrial sector in India alone c... more India ranks sixth in the world in total energy consumption and Industrial sector in India alone consumes nearly 45% of the total energy. The balance between demand and supply of power is not being able to achieve, in spite of numerous growth in power generation over the years. With the 'Make in India' initiative of putting manufacturing at the heart of India's development will require a tremendous rise in the energy needed. Industry-based growth will require more energy per unit of value in comparison to the energy needed by the services sector. To meet this demand, the country needs to make a major shift to renewable energy sources. Among the various renewable energy resources, solar energy potential is the highest in the country. Hence, the abundant solar energy in the country will help in improving the energy efficiency levels in the Industries; creating a balance between economic development and environmental sustainability. However, considering solar technology for Industries face a lot of Financial, Social, Informative, Regulatory and Site Barriers, which can be overcome by proposing simple and clear business models for the sector covering all the parameters in detail, so as for smooth operation between solar technology providers and industries.
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Papers by prajakta kulkarni