The government has issued orders making the Andhra Pradesh Energy Conservation Building Code (APECBC) mandatory for obtaining approvals for commercial and non-residential buildings with a plot area of 1,000 square metres, or built-up area of 2,000 square metres.
The Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) Department has issued a G.O. making amendments to the A.P. Building Rules-2017, which makes the APECBC compliance mandatory for commercial buildings.
Union Ministry of Power-led Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) introduced the ECBC in commercial and non-residential buildings to ensure construction of energy efficient buildings with reduced electrical energy by 30-40%, an official release said.
The MAUD Department had already integrated the ECBC compliance into the online Development Permission Management System for building approvals.
With the APECBC, all the commercial buildings, other non-residential buildings that had a plot area of more than 1,000 square metres, or built-up area of 2,000 square metres and multiplexes, hospitals, hotels, and convention centres, irrespective of their built-up area, had to comply with the APECBC.
The Energy Department empanelled 34 third-party assessors for checking the ECBC compliance at the design and occupancy stages in all the upcoming commercial buildings across the State.
