Minister of Information Technology, Industry and Local Government KT Rama Rao along with Special Chief Secretary of MA&UD Arvind Kumar, Mayor Gadwal Vijayalakshmi and others in launching Telangana’s Cool Roof Policy which aims to reduce the impact of urban heat island and heat stress procedures for saving CO2 emissions and saving energy on Monday in Hyderabad. | Photo credit: NAGARA GOPAL
The government, by announcing its cool roof policy, has made this mandatory for certain types of buildings and optional for certain others.
Structures where cool roofing is mandatory, including government, non-residential and commercial buildings regardless of lot size or built-up area, residential buildings with a lot size of 600 square meters or more, and in all government-sponsored housing projects.
It is optional for residential buildings with a lot size of less than 600 square meters and for buildings with solar systems installed on the roof. Retrofitting is optional in all non-residential buildings for the next three years, the policy document says.
Telangana’s cool roof policy is effective immediately for five years and will be reviewed by the MA&UD department as necessary. GHMC will be the node agency for the city, HMDA for the Hyderabad metropolitan area except GHMC and DTCP for the rest of the state.
TS-bPASS will be the vehicle through which the policy will be implemented by incorporating the Cool Roofing clause into the TSECBC, which is already integrated into the building permit system. Commercial buildings not covered by TSECBC but within the scope of the Chilled Roof Directive will be assessed for compliance at the time the Certificate of Occupancy is issued.
The policy document mentions that the use of chilled roof technology could reduce indoor temperatures by 2.1 to 4.3 degrees, resulting in a 20% saving in energy costs. Three types of chilled roofs have been proposed, including coated chilled roofs, membrane chilled roofs, and tiled chilled roofs. Coated cooling roofs are paints, acrylic polymers or plastic technologies that keep heat out by increasing the “Solar Reflective Index”. Membrane cooling roofs use prefabricated materials such as PVC or bitumen in the form of membranes or foils.
Tiled cool roofs, as the name suggests, involve the application of high albedo ceramic mosaic tiles or clapboard tiles to the existing roof.
An interdepartmental committee composed of members from Energy, Roads & Buildings, Housing, DTCP, ULBs and representatives from real estate development bodies such as CREDAI and NAREDCO and academic experts from respected institutions is formed by the MA&UD department to guide and oversee the implementation of the policy , said the document.
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