Best Policy Practices

Best Policy Practices
Energy efficient housing programme
City of Pune, India
The programme has four major components:
solar and wind energy, recycling of solids
and wastewater, rainwater harvesting,
and construction materials.
Name of the programme: Pune Eco-housing Programme
Lead institution: City of Pune, India, Pune Municipal Corporation
Other institutions and stakeholders involved: architects, construction
companies, building supply companies
Timeframe: 2001-2005 | Status: Ongoing
Policy and main objectives: The City of Pune has started
to promote and work towards ecological values in building
construction. Such values are needed in any growing city,
especially for cities like Pune with an unusually fast urban
growth. The Pune Eco-housing Programme has four major
components: solar and wind energy, recycling of solids and
wastewater, rainwater harvesting, and construction materials.
The programme aims to establish guidelines for eco-construction,
develop financing mechanisms for eco-housing, and
establish showcases of eco-housing projects to serve as
case studies for contractors who are interested in eco-friendly
construction. Pilot projects for eco-housing are lacking in India
with the result that few contractors and developers trust the
eco-friendly building techniques and instead use more wellknown,
but less sustainable ones.
Results achieved: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has
established eco-housing assessment criteria which serve as
tools for architects, contractors, financial institutions and building
owners to measure the environmental sustainability of their
buildings. Eco-housing certificates are being issued, which
result in reduced taxes and effectively promote further ecohousing
development. These activities have also increased
the interest of Indian contractors in improving environmental
aspects of new construction.
Link: http://gec.jp/gec/EN/Activities/2006/Eco-Towns/Pune.pdf