Abstract:
A roof over the head is a structure. The nature, quality and even the presence/absence of
such a structure is not merely a structural problem but indeed a complex socio-political
problem. Housing in that sense is a true reflection of a society. The social and economic
fragments of a society are mirrored in the housing of a society. The 2 major hurdles in
housing in India is the affordability of housing and energy efficiency of housing, the two
interlinked more than what meets the naked eye.
This dissertation is an attempt to set forth a policy framework that can address both the
issues which can enable the urban housing to become more energy efficient and
affordable. While this dissertation takes to cognizance the segmented nature of housing
and advocates a multi-pronged strategy to mitigate the problem, the nuts and bolts of
such a strategy is restricted to apartment buildings. The nature of organized real estate in
the country also indicated that this shall the low hanging fruit that can initiate the
transition into energy efficiency without affecting affordability and usher in the era of
Sustainable Housing.