Whole System Approach to Decarbonize India's Buildings

The document highlights that building operations and construction account for approximately 40% of India's energy use and warns that consumption could triple by 2050 without intervention. It proposes a whole-system approach—integrating low-carbon design, reduced energy needs, efficiency, and clean energy supply—to potentially reduce buildings-related emissions by a factor of four by 2050 compared to business-as-usual scenarios.

• Building operations and the production of materials/construction currently account for approximately 40% of India's energy use, with operations representing about a third and construction/materials representing about 10%.
• Without significant policy measures and energy-efficiency improvements, the buildings sector's energy consumption is projected to be more than three times higher by 2050 than current levels.
• Implementing a whole-system approach—which prioritizes low-carbon design, reduced energy needs, efficiency, and clean energy supply—could reduce India's buildings-related emissions by a factor of four by 2050 relative to a business-as-usual scenario.

APA

RMI (2022). Whole System Approach to Decarbonize India's Buildings. https://rmi.org/resources/whole-system-approach-to-decarbonize-indias-buildings/

Chicago

RMI. Whole System Approach to Decarbonize India's Buildings. 2022. https://rmi.org/resources/whole-system-approach-to-decarbonize-indias-buildings/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Whole System Approach to Decarbonize India's Buildings |date=9 November 2022 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/whole-system-approach-to-decarbonize-indias-buildings/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2022whole, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Whole System Approach to Decarbonize India's Buildings}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2022}, month = nov, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/whole-system-approach-to-decarbonize-indias-buildings/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }