Face blackouts or go green

POWER PROBLEM

Forty-year old graphic designer Anita Shukla, heads home after a day’s long hard work with plans of cooking for her family.

Soon the plans are shattered the minute she steps in, there is a power cut and it is unbearable for her to stand inside a hot and dark kitchen.

In view of the recent power cuts in the city, this has become the tale of almost every household. To be able to meet the high demand of electricity, Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung has stopped power supply to shoping malls after 10 pm. Being one of the most high energy consuming buildings in the city, malls are definitely on the radar whenever there is a power crisis and load shedding in the Capital.

“We respect the order issued by the Lt Governor and will ensure total compliance with it. Though it will affect the visitors’ convenience and business, however in the larger interest, this cause has to be supported. Secondly, we will take necessary steps at our level to ensure the safety and security of the visitors at Select CITYWALK,” says Yograj Arora, director Select Citywalk mall, Saket, adding that they have “power back-up facilities” and will try to manage the situation in the best possible manner.

A similar response is received from Dinaz Madhukar, senior vice president and mall head, DLF Promenade who says that they are relying on “Gensets which are sufficient since the major sections open after 10 pm are cinema halls and restaurants which are insulated compartments.” However, one wonders why the city malls have not explored the idea of making their buildings green, which can effectively tackle such power situations in future as well. 

“We do try and make the mall building as green as possible. The gensets that we are using are the ones which operate on gas rather than diesel, and are therefore more cost-effective and less polluting. Even the gas generated from the genset is used in VAM (Vapour Absorption Machine). We also have rainwater harvesting done in the mall premises,” informs Dinaz.

As is well known, green buildings consume less energy and can help in reducing the demand-supply gap during peak summer months. 

“These consume 30-40 per cent less energy as compared to conventional buildings. If designed intelligently, they have the potential to automatically switch off power when not required,” says Mili Majumdar, director, sustainable habitual division at The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI).

This is however possible only in case of newly-constructed buildings. In the old ones, there are “retrofit options such as efficient air conditioning system, efficient windows, better management, etc that can reduce energy consumption to approximately 20 per cent,” adds Mili who admits that the level of awareness has gone up but implementation is not as impressive. 

To add to this, Mili says, “Under the 15 million square metre area recorded as green under GRIHA rating (which evaluates green buildings), there is no mall mentioned. Malls generate power supply from gensets and then put the charges on tenants.”
 These subsequently are borne by the customers. Mili even accepts that no builder has been reported with intentions of creating a green building even though a number of malls are coming up in the city. 

In such a situation, it is most likely that the power cuts will be faced by malls, year after year. So if you are planning to venture to a nearby mall to escape the sultry Delhi heat and enjoy some cool breeze, beware of the price that you will have to pay for!