NEW DELHI: Administered by Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI), the premier organization independently recognizing excellence in green business industry performance and practice globally, today announced Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) in India as the first transit project in the world to achieve Performance Excellence in Electricity Renewal (PEER) certification PEER – is the world’s first certification program that measures and improves power system performance, helping to provide reliable and sustainable energy to people everywhere in the world: homes, hospitals, schools, businesses, communities, cities and utility regions.
DMRC, is the first PEER-certified transit project in the world. The certification applies to its Blue Line covering 51 stations in India. More than 10 percent of the line’s non-traction load is met through onsite renewable energy and demand side management programs, such as automated controls for air conditioning, escalators and lighting loads, are allowing DMRC to effectively conserve energy.
“It does not matter if you live in a small village in India or a major city like New York, when power systems fail, whether it is a downed power line or a natural disaster, it puts our safety and economic prosperity at risk,” said Mahesh Ramanujam, president and CEO of the USGBC and GBCI.
“Through PEER, we are recognizing industry performance and driving the adoption of strategies and practices that help improve our quality of life. With PEER we see a huge market transformation opportunity for the power sector,” added Ramanujam.
“DMRC being a life line of Delhi transport system, all the systems are being provided with redundancy, to ensure reliability and resiliency. Keeping in view India’s commitment to mitigate climate change, DMRC is striving to increase utilization of renewable energy in its metro system,” said Dr. Mangu Singh, managing director of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.
“However, PEER provides a rating system, to benchmark and evaluate these efforts and motivates the participants to strive for improvement. We are proud to be part of this rating system and wish all success to GBCI in their endeavors,” he added.
PEER recognizes industry leaders for improving efficiency, day-to-day reliability and overall resiliency when it comes to severe events, such as flooding and hurricanes. PEER was created in collaboration with industry leaders and the support of key partners, including S&C Electric, the Galvin Foundation, IPP Connect LLC, the International District Energy Association (IDEA) and the Advanced Energy Group LLC and is administered by Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI), the global certifying body for several sustainability systems including the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED green building program. Like LEED, PEER was designed to grow with the market. PEER is for all power systems and includes guidance for cities, utilities, campuses and transit. The new version of PEER delivers a simple, streamlined system to document sustainability improvements to power systems at different levels.
In 2000, USGBC created LEED as a result of collaboration with the building industry at a time when there was growing demand for greener, healthier buildings, but no clear definition or path forward. Today, LEED is the world’s most widely used green building rating system with more than 93,000 registered and certified projects in 167 countries and regions. Learning from LEED, PEER is positioned to be a similar solution for the energy sector to deliver sustainable, high performing power systems