How GGGI-ALCBT is Equipping India’s Future Professionals for the Low-Carbon Building Transition

India’s higher education system operates at a scale few nations can match, encompassing over 4,0001 engineering colleges and more than 3002 architecture schools, from which thousands of engineers and architects graduate each year. This vast academic infrastructure represents one of the country’s most significant assets in its pursuit of a low-carbon future. However, a recent study conducted by the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) and the National Productivity Council (NPC) found that courses on green buildings and lifecycle carbon are not yet widely integrated into university curricula, leaving many future architects and engineers with limited exposures increasingly needed in a low-carbon building sector.  

The study was conducted as part of GGGI’s  Asia Low Carbon Buildings Transition (ALCBT) Project, which aims to facilitate the nationwide transition towards low carbon buildings. It examined how well undergraduate curricula in India currently prepare students for careers in low-carbon and energy-efficient building design. The findings provide both a candid assessment of existing gaps and an encouraging picture of institutional readiness to address them. 

Buildings account for a substantial and growing share of India’s energy demand and carbon emissions. As the country continues to urbanise, the professionals being trained today in architecture, civil engineering, mechanical engineering, and electrical engineering will shape the environmental performance of its built environment for decades to come. However, a detailed desk review of selected institutions under this initiative found that none currently offers a dedicated core or elective course focused specifically on low-carbon or energy-efficient building concepts, a finding that underscores an important opportunity to strengthen existing curricula, an opportunity reinforced by subsequent engagement with participating universities.

Figure 1: Student responses on sustainability awareness, carbon footprint knowledge, curriculum interest, and understanding of carbon credits, ESCOs, and energy-related concepts. Source: GGGI Analysis. 

Figure 2: Faculty members’ self-reported responses on low-carbon building concepts

Figure 3: Syllabus assessment of selected universities under the ALCBT Project. 
Source: Report on “Review of University Syllabus with Key Recommendations” developed under the ALCBT Project.

What distinguishes this initiative is that the findings have translated into concrete institutional commitment, creating a pathway for the identified skills gaps to be addressed directly through university teaching. Consultations with senior representatives of participating universities resulted in each institution agreeing to place the proposed curriculum modules before its Board of Studies for formal deliberation. Several universities went further, expressing their willingness to contribute to the development of course content and participate in Training of Trainers programmes. One participating university also noted that it had already begun incorporating LCB themes into recent syllabus revisions and committed to expanding this coverage further. 

While the curriculum review covered a pilot group of institutions across three states, its potential impact extends much further, both across India’s broader higher education landscape and across the wider geography covered by the ALCBT Project in Asia.  

Learn more about the ALCBT project at www.alcbt.gggi.org, and enquiries may be directed to GGGI India at india@gggi.org.

About ALCBT

The Asia Low Carbon Buildings Transition (ALCBT) Project is a five-year initiative (2023-2028) that seeks to reduce GHG emissions by catalyzing nationwide transitions towards low-carbon buildings in five Asian countries: Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam. The project is funded by the Government of Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN), through the International Climate Initiative (IKI), and is implemented by a consortium led by GGGI, in partnership with the ASEAN Center for Energy (ACE), Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), and HEAT GmbH.

In India, the project operates under the guidance of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA). Capacity building efforts in the country will benefit over 2,000 individuals, including government officials, architects, engineers, building developers and owners, ESCOs, financial institutions, material manufactures, and technology providers, to promote low carbon building design and sustainable practices. Learn more about project activities in India here. 

For more information, visit:  https://alcbt.gggi.org

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