Women are disproportionately impacted by the negative effects of climate change. The challenge of decarbonization requires transformative on-ground action and women are indispensable to achieving this. However, there are many gaps in harnessing this influential force. Gender-disaggregated data is limited. Knowledge-sharing, awareness-building and training is needed. There is also the need for representation on the right platforms. This session explores the role of women in resource efficiency and decarbonization in buildings and the built environment, through international and national research and experience sharing. This session will focus on: • How women view the impact of climate change in buildings and the built environment • Instances of women-led action • Real, practical enabling actions, especially in developing economies, to be more inclusive

The road to India’s commitment of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2070 will need transformative changes across various sectors, including the building sector. Several policies have been introduced in our efforts to transition to low-carbon development, and more are being planned. Implementation of these policies requires coordinated action at different levels of the government, industry stakeholders, down to the end-users. This is especially relevant for Indian cities and buildings to move toward low-carbon and resilience while remaining affordable. This session will focus on:

• Current policies: What works and what hasn’t? What is needed to implement policies?
• Expectations and commitment of different stakeholders for the implementation of policies

Indoor thermal comfort, essential for physiological and psychological well-being, can be typically provided by active heating or cooling or a combination of both – this is contingent mainly on the local weather and the seasonal variations therein. The overarching goal of India Cooling Action Plan is to provide sustainable cooling and thermal comfort for all while securing environmental and socio-economic benefits for the society. According to ICAP, Government support for the vulnerable communities should include strategies such as: enforcing efficient building envelope and comfort systems through Eco-Niwas Samhita (ECBC-R) in the design and construction of housing for EWS and LIG to enable thermal comfort for all; funding and support for initiatives led by local municipalities and NGOs, such as cool-roof programs, off- grid micro-systems for cooling, and localized heat-action plans. This session shall provide a platform for various agencies to come together and discuss the challenges, probable solutions and approach for mainstreaming thermal comfort and climate resilience in residential buildings.

Cities are reported to be responsible for more than 70% of GHG emissions, and they share a big responsibility for the decarbonization of the global economy. They are a crucial link in developing and successfully implementing resilient, equitable and inclusive climate solutions, especially in key sectors like energy, building, mobility, water and waste management. City climate action plans have been developed for several cities in India. However, there are the challenges of clear definition of the climate action and its quantification, as well as the challenge of including the climate action in the statutory mechanism. This session will focus on:

• City level climate action plans
• Integrating climate priorities with urban planning, especially with respect to energy and thermal comfort in buildings sector
• How cities set their climate action goals and how do they quantify them
• Realistic steps to realise the climate goals for the built environment

A climate-neutral and net-zero future depends on synchronized concerted effort across our planet. There is a lot to learn, debate, discuss, contextualise and help among different countries and regions if we are to achieve our climate goals. This session will bring together such initiatives from different developing economies to continue this learning in the domain of decarbonizing buildings.

Traditional design, building materials and construction practices are generally accepted to be low-carbon, climate and context responsive and climate resilient. However, with the pressures of scale, speed and modern building standards, they’ve come to be looked as niche solutions that cannot be translated at scale. To be main streamed again requires reengineering and innovation in manufacturing and application, capacity building and possibly also an image-change. This session opens up a discussion on examples and approaches for mainstreaming traditional design, materials and construction practices.

As the world warms, cooling through air-conditioning becomes increasingly important in our climate adaptation measures. It is vital to get cooling right - meeting the cooling demand without the devastating climate impacts. In recent years, much effort has gone toward this, including the Global Cooling Prize, which saw technology prototypes with 5 times less climate impact than conventional air-conditioning. Work is going on personal cooling devices and technologies as well as on a host of low-carbon cooling technologies including mechanical ventilation, evaporative cooling, radiant cooling, etc. This session looks at some of the sustainable cooling technologies and what is required to make them market ready.

In India, the construction sector is the largest sector with regard to material consumption, especially for cement and steel, both of which have a large share of GHG emissions. Buildings are also the second-largest consumer of electricity. Decarbonization of buildings will not be possible without an overhaul of current materials and construction technologies to reduce their embodied energy and enable reduction of operational energy. At the same time, any construction technology will also have to deliver on scale and speed. This session gives the stage some of the new materials and technologies that are contributing to reducing emissions, both embodied and operational.

The challenge of low-carbon development has seen an entrepreneurial response with many products, technologies and tools being developed, including ones that are for buildings and the built environment. Low-carbon and energy efficient building start-ups range from ones on efficient and low-carbon envelopes (low-carbon cement, insulating blocks, blocks from waste, smart windows, insulating plasters etc.), efficient space conditioning technologies, efficient lighting technologies, energy storage technologies, efficient energy services, and many energy analytics and optimization tools / platforms. This session looks at some of the products and services, their business models and discusses what innovation gaps still need a response in the Indian context.

Conversations with students & next-gen building professionals