Critical Analysis of Net Zero Pathways for Affordable Housing in India

Choudhury, Surjyatapa Ray and Ramesh, Nithya and Subramanya, Vaishnavi (2025) Critical Analysis of Net Zero Pathways for Affordable Housing in India. URBAN INNOVATION: TO BOLDLY GO WHERE NO CITIES HAVE GONE BEFORE. Medium sized cities and towns as a major arena of global urbanisation. Proceedings of REAL CORP 2025, 30th Intl. Conference on Urban Development, Regional Planning and Information Society. pp. 249-260. ISSN 2521-3938

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Abstract

The residential floor area in India is expected to more than double by 2040. Ninety-nine percentof this growth is in Low Income Group segment, proving that affordable housing is the future of residential development. This will lead to high energy consumption and carbon emissions. In 2023-24, the building sector accounted for 13% of the total energy consumption in India, of which 82% came from the residential sector. It is thus crucial to ensure that all new residential building stock, expected to last for the next 5 decades, is built in a climate-conscious manner to reduce energy consumption and carbon footprint of the built environment. However, this can only happen if the needs of the affordable housing segment are addressed. This paper examines the applicability of India’s two of four net zero pathways in affordable housing –energy-efficiency, sustainable materials and construction technologies. It analyses regulatory instruments, policies and schemes, and market instruments through the Availability-Affordability-Quality framework, examining if solutions are available, if solutions are affordable, and if solution favours emission reduction. Findings show that most instruments are designed for an overall built environment, with no specific focus on low-income groups. Of the specific affordable housing policies, recommendations for achieving affordability is found to compromise with quality, particularly considering GHG emissions. Based on the findings, the paper provides three recommendations – (i) developing a unified definition of green, (ii) consolidating policy implementation through unified regulatory mechanisms, and (iii) procurement reforms to unlock potential of sustainable materials/technologies use, to ensure an affordable net zero future for India.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Policy implementation, Operational emissions, Net zero built environment, Embodied emissions, Affordable housing
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor H Social Sciences > HM Sociology H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
Depositing User:	REAL CORP Administrator
Date Deposited:	16 May 2025 09:08
Last Modified:	16 May 2025 09:08
URI:	http://repository.corp.at/id/eprint/1164

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