Research

Mapping Energy Footprint of Indian Health Care System – The National Hospital Energy Survey

Centre for Chronic Disease Control in collaboration with Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy (AEEE) is undertaking the first-ever National Hospital Energy Survey to assess the energy footprint of the Indian health care system whose share of GHG emissions is estimated to be 38.8MMtCO₂e. Hospital buildings comprise a significant proportion of India’s commercial building sector in terms of their number, built-up area, energy consumption, and GHG emissions. This sector is growing, and this growth is necessary, both, in urban and rural contexts. This is an opportune time for Indian health sector to adopt low carbon strategies of development, build climate resilient health care infrastructure, ensure affordable health care to all while contributing to the National Climate Commitments.

The survey will be conducted across 5 climate zones, 18 states, 1000 hospitals. Public hospitals of various levels of care (sub-centres to district hospitals) and private hospitals of different specialities (single to super speciality) will be covered in the study. The intended outcomes of this study for various stakeholders are as follows:

• Policymakers:
  1. Develop and update energy benchmarks, codes, and standards for different hospital typologies
  2. Mainstream the use of renewable energy in rural hospitals to improve healthcare delivery
• Hospital Owners: Benchmark against peers to manage energy consumption and strengthen ESG goals
• Energy efficiency businesses: Work with hospital owners to identify and implement climate-smart solutions

Data collection is underway and the report is planned to be released by the end of 2022.