HDFC Bank Parivartan

In alignment with SDG 12, the Bank endeavours to improve energy efficiency and systematically manage energy use throughout its operations. The adoption of Energy Efficient Management Systems (EnMS) has led the Bank to achieve the same. With the installation of Energy Management Module, the Bank has been able to reduce power consumption by about 12% across 600 branches, where this has been implemented. As on 31st March 2019, two of the Bank’s buildings at Mumbai and Bhubaneswar are LEED certified.

DG sets have been replaced with lithium ion batteries in select branches as part of a pilot study to reduce emissions from diesel. The Bank’s ENMS makes use of data analytics and Internet of Things (IOT) to drive energy efficiency across select branches. What started as a pilot in 100 retail branches across 5 cities in 2015 was scaled-up to 600 branches in 2017.

A few highlights from the program are -

Poor power factor (less than 0.75) have been improved to 3%.

Data is collected at 5-minute intervals through a central cloud platform which enables benchmarking as well as deeper analytics to identify root cause of in-efficiency / high energy usage.

A self-service easy to use portal has been created for all users to access key consumption data related to their region s which can be drilled down to a specific branch for analysis.

To ensure consistent experience for customers and employees, the temperature is set- at a certain point and this is strongly enforced across the 600 branches.

Sharing of energy usage patterns and anomalies with employees, at respective branches have improved employee awareness and behaviour on energy consumption.

Predictive health monitoring is being done for all critical assets like DG sets and air-conditioning assets preventing outages and breakdowns.

Usage of all major energy consuming assets: signage, lighting, air-conditioning in customer areas, ATM air-conditioning etc. have also been automated.

Energy demand reduction opportunities have also been identified in many branches under the program.

In the next phase, the Bank is evaluting to extend the ENMS to large offices too. Apart from the ENMS, some of the Bank’s other initiatives include:

Collocation of ATM and Server Room to reduce the number of individual air-conditioning units required.

Installation of Capacitor Banks in premises which helps in reducing electricity consumption.

Provision of VRF/VRV AC's, instead of conventional AC's in all new back offices. In the branches, inverter-based star rated AC's (as per BEE standards) have been installed.

Installation of occupancy sensors in new back offices.

Installation of LED lights in place of conventional CFL/Fluorescent fittings.

Building Management Systems have been implemented at select large offices in Mumbai and Bhubhaneswar.

Major sources of energy consumption at the Bank are fuel used in DG sets and electricity from grid.

In FY 2018-19, the energy consumption per employee is 22.6 GJ (energy intensity, the energy taken into account is energy consumed within the organization and includes energy from fuel for DG sets owned vehicles and electricity) with a 16% decrease as opposed to 26.88 GJ in FY 2017-18. It is observed that there is a decrease in both the electricity and diesel consumption, this is partly attributed to a change in methodology and emission factors used in the calculation of emissions. Further, reduction, in electricity consumption, despite the increase in branch network is attributed to the implementation of EnMS and various other energy saving initiatives at the Bank. This is despite there being a substantial increase in the number of employees as compared with the previous year. The Bank records employee travel/ business commute under scope 3 emissions but does not track/ measure energy equivalent of the same.

Energy Consumption by Source (’000GJ)

Renewable Energy

In alignment with SDG 7, the Bank is committed to utilizing renewable energy in its business operations. As on 31st March 2019, the Bank has a cumulative installed solar capacity of 135.5 KWP across Jaipur, Pune, Noida and Bhubaneswar. The electricity generated from these solar panels in FY 2018-19 was estimated at 1,62,600 KWh, about 58% more than the previous year, attributed to the addition of solar plant at Bhubaneswar. ATMs also consume a lot of power and since the rural areas have fluctuating power supply, the Bank has also installed a few solar ATMs, in select locations across the country.