The News: The Building Code of Pakistan (Energy Provisions 2011) already approved by the Steering Committee will soon be finalised by the Task Force of Pakistan Engineering Council.
National Energy Conservation Centre (Enercon) Assistant Chief (Buildings) Abrar Malik stated this at a seminar on ‘Cool Roofs: Solar Radiation Management (SRM) Techniques to Combat Climate Change and Energy Crisis’ organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI).
Abrar said: “We need to cultivate a new energy culture focusing on achieving sustainable development through conservation and efficient use of energy resources. SRM techniques such as cool roofs can be a viable alternate, he said. He highlighted initiatives taken by Enercon for energy conservation such as buildings energy audits, energy efficient housing improvement by roof slabs, awareness campaigns, appointment of energy managers and amendment in building bylaws of building control authorities and utility providers.
Advisor Climate Change and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Syed Amjad Hussain said that cool roofs could typically reduce summer air-conditioning energy use by 10% to 20%. He gave example of Masdar city while talking about reducing carbon emission to combat climate change around the world. Masdar city, he said, is a 15 billion dollars initiative by government of UAE which had zero carbon emission where everything is greener, cleaner, recycled and environment- friendly.
Former National Programme Coordinator, Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), Tenveer Mehmud, said that CDM allows industrialised countries to invest in emission reductions wherever it is cheapest globally. He said that there is an opportunity for developing countries like Pakistan to take measures towards cleaner environment while earning valuable resources at the same time.
Farzana Yasmin from SDPI said that SRM techniques increase the reflectivity of the build environment by painting the roofs, roads and pavements with bright reflective white. It, she said, provides a cooling effect as the white roofs in tropical regions absorb about 70 per cent less sunlight than an ordinary roof and hence counteracting the warming influence of increasing greenhouse gases.
