The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) is an agency of the Government of India, under the Ministry of Power, created on 1st March 2002 under the provisions of the nation's 2001 Energy Conservation Act. The agency's function is to develop programs which will increase the conservation and efficient use of energy in India. The government has proposed to make it mandatory for all appliances in India to have ratings by the BEE starting January 2010.

The prime aim of BEE is to reduce energy consumption in the country and promote energy efficiency through various strategies and policies. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency also aims at organizing the energy efficiency services available and to develop mechanisms to offer these services. There are a number of organizations that are involved in the movement of energy conservation, and providing leadership to these movements is also under the agenda of BEE.

The BEE in India also has the responsibility of monitoring the effects of energy efficiency programs in different sectors of the country. It is also involved in the process of implementing the Energy Conservation Act and to design programs according to this Act. For this purpose, BEE encourages the private sector to work jointly with the public sector. It also ensures the delivery of different programs related to energy efficiency. For implementing all these programs, the Bureau takes help from different public as well as private organizations of the country.

Objectives

• Provides a policy framework and direction to national energy conservation activities.
• Coordinates policies and programmes on efficient use of energy with shareholders.
• Establishes systems and procedures to verify, measure and monitor Energy Efficiency (EE) improvements.
• Solicits multilateral, bilateral and private sector support to implement the EC Act 2001.
• Demonstrates EE delivery systems through public-private partnerships.

The Bureau obtains inputs and expertise from private sector, non-governmental organisations, research institutions and technical agencies, both national and international, to achieve these objectives.

Mission

The mission of Bureau of Energy Efficiency is to 'institutionalize' energy efficiency services, enable delivery mechanisms in the country and provide leadership to energy efficiency in all sectors of the country. The primary objective would be to reduce energy intensity in the economy.

The broad objectives of BEE are as below:

• To exert leadership and provide policy framework and direction to national energy conservation and efficiency efforts and programs.
• To coordinate energy efficiency and conservation policies and programs and take it to the stakeholders.
• To establish systems and procedures to measure, monitor and verify energy efficiency results in individual sectors as well as at a macro level.
• To leverage multi-lateral and bi-lateral and private sector support in implementation of Energy Conservation Act and efficient use of energy and its conservation programs.
• To demonstrate delivery of energy efficiency services as mandated in the EC bill through private-public partnerships.
• To interpret, plan and manage energy conservation programs as envisaged in the Energy Conservation Act.

BEE trust areas include:

1. Indian Industry Programme for Energy Conservation
2. Demand Site Management
3. Standards and Labelling Programme
4. Energy Efficiency in Buildings and Establishments
5. Energy Conservation Building Codes
6. Professional Certification and Accreditation
7. Manuals and Codes
8. Energy Efficiency Policy Research Programme
9. School Education
10. Delivery Mechanisms for Energy Efficiency Services

Awards by BEE

NATIONAL ENERGY CONSERVATION AWARDS are given to selected Industrial units who have made systematic and serious attempts for efficient utilization and conservation of energy. Bureau of Energy Efficiency coordinates the Energy Conservation Awards scheme of the Ministry of Power. The Awards were given away for the first time in December 14, 1991.

The BEE Star Energy Efficiency Labels have been created to standardize the energy efficiency ratings of different electrical appliances and indicate energy consumption under standard test conditions. Thus we can also conserve the cost of electricity by switching to electrical appliances with BEE (Bureau of Energy Efficiency) label.

BEE Star Labels

These labels indicate the energy efficiency levels through the number of Stars highlighted in colour on the label. The BEE Star Labels include a Star Rating System that ranges from One Star (least energy efficient, thus least money saved) to Five Stars (most energy efficient, thus most money saved).

We can reduce your electricity bills and help India to increase the availability of electricity for more people, simply by buying Refrigerators, ACs & Tube lights that bear BEE’s Star-Rated Energy Efficiency Labels.

BEE in Automobiles

The Indian Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) recently proposed rating automobiles in the country on the basis of their energy efficiency. The proposal suggests charging a registration fee of Rs 2,000 per vehicle to rate the fuel efficiency of its engine and another Rs 1,000 to assess its energy consumption. Vehicles with the highest efficiency will get a 5-star rating and those with the lowest a single-star rating. The BEE plans to make this procedure mandatory after a few years.

Scheme for star rating office buildings

1. Energy audit studies in buildings have shown large potential for energy savings both in government and commercial office buildings. Study of the available data has shown that there is an urgent need for improved energy efficiency of buildings.
2. National commercial energy benchmarking initiatives was taken up with a goal to establish a framework to standardize energy data collection, baseline setting for “typical” commercial buildings, energy performance target setting and monitoring and use the information to improve energy efficiency in buildings. This information can help the user and other stakeholders to evaluate building energy efficiency and track improvements compared to other buildings and recognize the top performers.
3. The Star Rating Program for buildings would create a demand in the market for energy efficient buildings based on actual performance of the building in terms of specific energy use. This programme would rate office buildings on a 1-5 star scale with 5 star labelled building being the most efficient.
4. Five categories of buildings – Office buildings, hotels, hospitals, retail malls, and IT parks in five climate zones in the country have been identified for this programme.
5. Initially, the programme targets the following 3 climatic zones for air-conditioned and non-air conditioned office buildings.
   a)    warm and humid
   b)    composite
   c)    Hot and Dry
    It will be subsequently extended to other climatic zones.
6. To apply for rating of office buildings, a standardized format is developed for collection of actual energy consumption; data required includes building’s built up area, conditioned and non-conditioned area, type of building in a day, climatic zone in which buildings is located, and other related information of the facility.
7. The technical committee constituted for Energy Base lining and benchmarking of commercial buildings chaired by Director General, Bureau of Energy Efficiency shall be the technical committee for the scheme.