Bangalore, the fifth largest metropolitan region in India with
a population of 7.0 million in 2007, is the capital of the State of
Karnataka. Bangalore has emerged as a leader in Information Technology
(IT) services and its low cost production advantages were
able to attract investment in this sector to cater to a global clientele.
Other global IT Enabled Services (ITES) that do not require
advanced skills, commonly referred to as call centres and Business
Process Operations (BPOs) are also a major economic sector. The
IT-ITES industry in India is estimated to aggregate revenues of US$
73.1 billion in 2010 and directly employ nearly 2.3 million [15].
A structured questionnaire was used to collect information on
billed electricity consumption as well as operational characteristics
from IT and ITES facilities in Bangalore city in India. The study
was limited to IT and ITES facilities since this would largely control
for the type of activity within commercial buildings. Activities
such as retail, hospitality, etc., which would each have different
energy efficiency profiles, would therefore be excluded. IT and ITES
facilities are also likely to be air conditioned almost entirely except
for areas like cafeterias. LEED certification has also been popular
among commercial office buildings in India for IT and ITES facilities
and it would be possible to obtain a larger sample of LEED and non-
LEED buildings for this type of building activity. By also limiting the
study to Bangalore, climatic conditions are controlled for.