A Comparative Analysis of Energy Provisions of Pakistan Building Code with Indian and USA Building Energy Codes

The current energy scenario of Pakistan requires the adoption of a proper energy consumption framework to meet the demands of the Pakistani society. This paper compares the energy codes developed by ASHRAE (United States) and Bureau of Energy Efficiency (India) to suggest improvements in development of the energy conservation building codes for Pakistan. It has been realized that taking all relevant stakeholders on board is vital for the development, adoption and compliance of energy conservation building codes at provincial level. It is also evident that energy conservation culture has to be developed in all segments of the society to lessen energy consumption, reduce carbon emissions and create a sustainable future. The energy codes of Pakistan lack adoption mechanism and climatic zoning needed for building thermal performance. The comparative analysis shows that the thermal building code of Pakistan is the key instrument to reduce energy pressure while providing occupants comfortable living space. It has been concluded that the government should develop code adoption and compliance system for the reduction of energy demand in buildings.


Introduction
Pakistan has faced a serious energy crisis for the past two decades.Saving energy is the key method to overcome the shortfall.Building sector in Pakistan consumes approximately 30% of the electricity.Internationally, many countries have decreased the amount of building sector energy consumption by adopting various measures.Developing building energy codes has proven to be of prime importance in the reduction of energy consumption.NEECA (formerly known as ENERCON) has developed Pakistan Building Code (Energy Provisions-2011).Until now, there has been no thorough discussion on the appropriateness of the energy code for Pakistan.This paper presents the comparative analysis of building energy codes of Pakistan with ASHRAE 90.1 and Indian ECBC 2006, describes the current scenario and proposes a solution to develop energy codes which are adaptable and widely accepted by the relevant professionals.The enactment of a building code comes under the purview of PEC (Act of 1975-Section 25).Any code related to building construction shall be reviewed and approved by PEC.In 2011, ENERCON developed a new code called Building Code of Pakistan (Energy Provisions-2011) which was endorsed by PEC and promulgated in 2013.After the 18 th amendment in the constitution of Pakistan; the role of NEECA in provinces was transposed to the provincial energy departments.Punjab took the lead and established PEECA in 2016 after the enactment of National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act-2016.All the provinces are supposed to have an energy efficiency and conservation body.PEECA started working on the review and modification of the code developed by ENERCON/NEECA as formerly mentioned Pakistan Building Code (Energy Provisions-2011).

Research Objectives
The objective of this research is to improve energy conservation building codes for Pakistan by doing comparative analysis of energy codes developed by ASHRAE (United States) and Bureau of Energy Efficiency (India).PEECA is still in the process of code modification (specific to Punjab) while this process is still awaited by other provinces.Currently, PEECA has prepared a draft of the Energy Conservation Building Code for Punjab by involving all relevant stakeholders in the building sector all over the province.PEECA also held various consultations in three cities of Punjab, i.e., Multan, Rawalpindi and Lahore.PEECA has floated the draft of the proposed ECBC for review to stakeholders.Meanwhile PEECA has also planned to start a process to develop compliance procedure and tools.

Methodology
Building Energy Codes by ASHRAE (ASHRAE 90.1) are followed by various countries across the globe as source document.The current energy code of Pakistan BECP (Energy Provisions-2011) is also developed from the same source like Indian ECBC.To understand the gap in the current energy code of Pakistan BECP (Energy Provisions-2011), it is compared with the source code and also with another code of the same region devised for a country with similar economic conditions and construction practices, i.e., India.All of the data incorporated for comparison purposes is secondary in nature.
Detailed qualitative textual analysis is done to identify the changes to be incorporated in the next edition of Pakistan BECP (Energy Provisions-2011).The paper suggests amendments to optimize development, adoption and compliance/enforcement of the energy code in Pakistan.Numerical impact is not addressed in this analysis.This study has three aspects.It marks the difference of BECP (Energy Provisions-2011) from ASHRAE 90.1-2013 and Indian ECBC 2006, characterizes the change for each component of the code and recommends the amendments for subsequent revision of BECP (Energy Provisions-2011).

Results and Discussion
All energy codes are developed on the basis of region specific conditions, i.e., energy consumption behavior, economic and climatic conditions and construction practices.Usually these codes are revised after a fixed cycle which in ASHRAE 90.1 case is three year cycle.Indian ECBC is subject to revision after 10 years.It was their first code so it took them a comparatively longer time to evaluate and devise adoption and compliance mechanism.Both ASHRAE 90.1 and Indian ECBC have their well-established compliance and enforcement mechanism while the Pakistani Code has none.ASHRAE 90.1 and Indian ECBC focus on their major consumption areas in building sector which is non-residential whereas in Pakistan residential buildings are the major consumers of energy in the building sector.Comparative analysis of building codes is shown in the following Table 1.

Conclusion
In Pakistan, it is absolutely imperative that we should improve energy efficiency in buildings by incorporating the internationally recognized best practices appropriate to our environment.ASHRAE Standard 90.1 is developed using ANSI consensus-based process that focuses on technical feasibility and life-cycle cost-effectiveness.The U.S Department of Energy is a participant in this process.New versions of Standard 90.1 are released in a three-year cycle.The Energy Provisions-2011 were developed by a task force of the Pakistan Engineering Council.NEECA serves in a national coordination role for energy efficiency and policy.The code needs to be revised on the basis of a three-year cycle.New requirements for the next version of the Energy Provisions shall be developed in consultation with stakeholders.The code shall be developed considering local economy, climate, construction practices, local materials and assemblies and local skills.

Compliance and Enforcement of Code
In the U.S., compliance is the responsibility of the design professionals and enforcement is the responsibility of state and local code officials.If design professionals do not submit plans and specifications that meet the requirements of the code, the building will not get a building permit.If the building is not constructed to meet the standards of the code as shown during inspection, the building will not receive a certificate of occupancy.
In Pakistan, compliance is the responsibility of design professionals and enforcement is the responsibility of provincial and local code officials whose framework is still not developed.District Building Control Authorities issue building permits, inspect buildings and issue occupancy permits.

Scope
The scope shall be expanded by including smaller buildings or buildings with smaller connected loads because the energy consumption mix of Pakistan is very different and residential buildings consume more energy than any other sector.

Envelope
The building envelope requirements of an energy standard should be the foundation of the standard, as the building envelope section addresses many of the controllable loads in a building (heat loss, heat gain, solar heat gain, infiltration, etc).Other loads (such as occupants) are not controllable.Specific differences between Standard 90.1-2016 and the Energy Provisions-2011 mentioned in the comparison will improve the code.The code shall consider envelop requirements by "building type", specifying various climate zones for the whole country.By adding more solar heat gain requirements including "cool" roofs and window, SHGC will improve thermal performance including air sealing of building envelope for buildings without natural ventilation.

Mechanical
Making equipment efficiency and economizers mandatory instead of voluntary will not only increase energy savings but will also be helpful in standardization and market stability.It will also help if efficiency requirements for equipment is raised.Commissioning has a vital impact on the proper implementation of the code.

Service Water Heating
Adding controls requirement and making solar/renewable energy requirement mandatory instead of voluntary will improve SWH performance of code compliant buildings.

Lighting
Addition of functional testing, making automatic lighting shutoff mandatory instead of voluntary and making daylight control mandatory for some space types will improve the impact of the code.

Tradeoffs and Whole Building Performance
Energy Provisions-2011 do not have tradeoffs and whole building performance because compliance mechanism is not developed.Including a whole building tradeoff approach that can serve as a link to the code and green building programs (PGBC etc.) will increase the interest of design professionals.

Appendices
There is plenty of room for adding appendices of useful information like R-value to U-factor conversions and climatic data of Pakistan.Support materials for the code should be added.In the U.S. many organizations (including DOE) develop support materials for Standard 90.1.User's manual (from ASHRAE), code training materials, code compliance software and training for code officials ought to be added as well.

Recommendations
The comparative analysis of energy codes presented above clearly indicated the main issues related to the implementation of the codes.Energy code development, adoption, and enforcement are all vitally important aspects of a complete energy code program.A code that is not adopted can't be enforced.A code that is not enforced is not going to give results.The details of how an energy code is developed, adopted, and enforced are important.A code that is developed without consensus with most stakeholders will be hard to adopt and enforce.A national requirement for provinces to adopt the code without any penalty for not adopting will be only partially successful.The enforcement of codes depends on provincial/local government priorities and funding.A proper framework should be developed based on regional parameters embedded in the socio-cultural framework for successful implementation of codes.
ENERCON was initiated as a USAID project in 1985 under the Ministry of Planning & Development.In 1993, it was transferred to the Ministry of Water and Power and later on to the Ministry of Environment in 1996.In 1997, it became an attached department of the Ministry of Environment but once again was transferred to the Ministry of Water and Power in 2011.In 2016, it was transformed into NEECA as an attached department of the Ministry of Water and Power.The first energy conservation building code was developed by ENERCON in 1990 along with a compliance manual but compliance was on voluntary basis.The code never came into professional practice until 2013 when a revised code was developed and endorsed by PEC.____________________ 1 Associate Professor National College of Arts, Lahore

Building Energy Code of Pakistan (Energy Provision 2011) ASHRAE 90.1-2013 Energy Conservation Building Code of India 2006 Comparative Analysis
b. utilization of on-site, renewable energy resources.