The change in climatic conditions and economic growth takes people out of their poverty. Air conditioning is the well-used process today than in earlier times. The International Energy Agency (IEA) said that the consumption of electricity will be 650 million units by 2040 in the field of cooling. This is the time for choosing different energy-efficient methods in areas like building, construction and design to consumer durables and appliances. As the Covid-19 pandemic backdropped, the demand for air quality circulation became much important by making the indoor environment healthy with less power consumption.
The Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) accompanied by the US Agency for International Development under the ‘MAITREE’ programme Its ‘Retrofit of Air-conditioning to improve Indoor air quality for Safety and Efficiency (RAISE)’ initiative aims to improve the indoor air quality by modifying air-conditioning and ventilation systems by providing one solution for filtration, disinfection and ventilation needs. “The demand for air circulation and that of filtration systems will increase in the post-pandemic world, in which indoor quality will be the main concern “says Somesh Kumar, partner and national leader. This issue was raised even before the pandemic had started which led to the urgency of cooling systems for public buildings like offices, shopping malls and hospitals which made it unable to contain the circulation of viruses in spaces without natural ventilation. Rajat Sud, managing director, EESL, said to FE that “There is a scarcity of solutions to deal with this issue. Air filters, which are ill-equipped to curb the spread of pathogens that are very tiny in size”. The novel ‘Air Sampler’ technology developed by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is used by the RAISE programme which enables the sampling of the pathogens like covid-19 virus every 30 minutes to monitor the air quality. In places with space constraints, a UV disinfectant tray developed by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) will be installed in existing AC ducts.
As per the India Cooling Action Plan charted by the environment ministry, the total space for centralised air-conditioning of large buildings is expected to grow by seven times to 38 million tonnages of refrigeration (TR) by FY38. If the upcoming demand is met with the RAISE programme it would provide a total amount of Rs 7,600 crore for EESL. As of now, EESL is utilising its available 350 cr credit for disinfection of air conditioning in public spaces. The public sectors and government entities are being targeted by the company. Enterprises such as railway production units, income tax buildings, hospitals, government hotels, airports and large building are potential subscribers of the RAISE initiative. It has initiated talks with private sectors like hotel chains, property management agencies, hospitals and small traders.
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