We are committed to sustainability, and this is best said with our products.

Ajit Jainath Singh

Area Sales Director, Commercial Building Services INDO, and Sub-Saharan Africa Region, Grundfos

How is sustainability gaining traction in the buildings sector?

India has set a target of achieving Net Zero by 2070.The Government of India has undertaken a two-pronged approach to catering to the energy demand within the nation. One by embracing the use of renewables and other efforts to reduce energy consumption through policy and action.
The Energy Conservation Act, 2001 (the 'EC Act') specifies norms and standards for appliances and equipment, as well as in respect of building construction. Recently, the Energy Conservation (Amendment) Act, 2022 (the 'EC Amendment') came into force. Among other important changes, the EC Amendment has now included large residential buildings under the EC Act's regulatory regime, along with enhancing the scope of ECBC (Energy Conservation Building Code).

HVAC systems are major consumers of energy in buildings and structures. How important is making HVAC systems energy efficient?

Building consumes almost 17% of total electricity consumption worldwide and emits 8% of worldwide greenhouse gas. With the demand for infrastructure on the rise, we are also witnessing the rising demand for commercial buildings. HVAC systems account for more than 40% of energy consumption alone in any building.
The global HVAC systems market is estimated to be worth USD 206.3 billion in 2023 and is set to reach USD 280.1 billion by 2028. The automotive HVAC Market on the other hand is expected to grow from USD 61.01 billion in 2023 to USD 83.43 billion by 2028, at a CAGR of 6.46% during the forecast period (2023-2028). It goes without saying that a significant remaining portion of the global market consists of manual HVAC systems. A significant portion of these systems are manual and hence unable to run their cooling and heating cycles as per the required load demand and at variable speed. These single-speed systems have a significant contribution to energy wastage - creating a direct and immediate demand for intelligent and automatic HVAC systems.

How is Grundfos helping to make energy efficient and sustainable operations of HVAC systems?

We at Grundfos India are committed to sustainability, and this is best said with our products. HVAC plays a major role in energy consumption in commercial buildings, and hence there's the need to continually come up with viable solutions.
Grundfos Distributed Pumping makes it easy to balance chilled water systems and enhances comfort in buildings. The improves Delta T saves up to 54% energy in commercial buildings. This is a cost-efficient way to reduce pressure and improve performance in Chilled Water Systems, saving energy and optimizing building OPEX.
We have energy efficient products with cutting edge technology like IE5 motors that have integrated VFDs. MAGNA3 is an intelligent, high-efficiency circulator pump that is a highly advanced canned rotor pump intended for large commercial buildings. Its features - 'AUTOADAPT' and 'FLOWADAPT' ensure that your system provides optimum comfort and efficient operation. Our pumps have an Energy Efficiency Index (EEI) well below the EuP benchmark level, they enable energy savings of up to 75%. The pumps can also be operated via Bluetooth for easy installation, commissioning and maintenance.
While new builds can do it right from the get-go and incorporate energy-efficiency measures. Older buildings will need active retrofits and more focused attention, and here's where our service-based offerings come to the fore.
The service-side of our business provides Digital, Operational, Optimization services that help our customers be worry-free. Energy Audits and Energy Checks provide a detailed measurement-based analysis of your current pump performance.

What are the major products and solutions offered by the company in commercial buildings?

Our product offerings are across all the application area of a building - HVAC, Water supply/Boosting, Sewage & Drainage.
Our HVAC solutions have been already shared above.
On water supply/booster, hydro MPC-E and Hydro Multi-E are fitted with IE5 range of motors. They are equipped to control pressure intelligently while monitoring the system, analyzing performance and always securing efficient operations.
For wastewater applications, the Grundfos SL range of submersible wastewater pumps are designed to optimize system performance with minimum servicing required. The pumps feature either Grundfos S-tube® (SL1/SL2) or Super Vortex (SLV) impellers. The hydraulic design of the impeller ensures minimum clogging and maximum reliability without compromising free passage or total system efficiency.
Across the application areas, we have Grundfos GO - an intuitive toolbox for mobile pump control that provides you with instant pump data, designed to save you time and effort. The application can save you a great deal of time, services and documentation. The remote is always online, and this means it is constantly updated and ready for you to use wherever and whenever you need it.

What are your plans to further strengthen your sustainability solution for buildings sector?

The continuous increase in urbanization, energy consumption will also see a spike and hence the push for net zero and sustainability.
The Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri, while speaking at the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development, said that India will have to build 700-900 million sq m of urban space every year till 2030 to meet its urban demands.
There is a great push coming in Green Building space with India recording 82 platinum certified buildings, 49 Gold Certified buildings and four Silver Certified buildings across the top 7 leading markets in the January-October 2022 period.
Grundfos can show that it is possible to radically reduce our energy use, reduce OPEX while still maintaining the standards people expect. Intelligent pumps can reduce energy consumption by 25% compared to standard pump solutions. I believe that this is an excellent time for a wider implementation of intelligent pumping solutions in commercial buildings.

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