Barinder Saluja, Chandigarh : May 05 : City based Architect-Planner Archana Chaudhary has bagged another milestone in her illustrious career. She has bagged state level “Energy Conservation Runners Up Award” for the year 2010 instituted by Department of Science, Technology, Environment and Non Conventional Energy , Govt. of Punjab. The award is being given by Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) which has been designated as a Nodal Agency by the Ministry of Power, Government of India to coordinate, regulate and enforce the Energy Conservation Act, 2001 in the state of Punjab. The said award is being given to those who have taken extra efforts for efficient utilization, management and conservation of energy.The award consists of a citation, trophy and cash prize of Rs.10, 000/-The award has been conferred upon Archana on 4th May, 2011 in the category of Architects and Builders at a function in PEDA’s office building in Chandigarh. Currently, Joint Secretary of Indian Institute of Architects (IIA) Chandigarh Punjab Chapter, Archana has bagged many awards. She is the recipient of Government Gold Medal, Panjab University Medal, A R Prabhawalkar Award, Sarita Chadha Award for her professional excellence in the field. She has also won Award for Environmental Conservation on International Women’s Day, 2009 for contribution towards social and environmental issues and a Certificate of Appreciation for outstanding contribution during the year 2009 at IIA National Convention held at Nagpur. She has done extensive work in Energy Conservation in the field of Architecture.
Chaudhary believes that energy conservation is a global issue and architects have a vital role to play in ensuring energy conservation in buildings which consume major share of the world’s total energy. Talking about the region of Punjab and Chandigarh, she said, “The area has a good potential for trapping solar radiation as per the solar insolation map of the world. The climate being Composite, this region offers a challenge for the architects while designing a building.” Archana says,” Conserving energy is not a one time effort. It is a continuous process which should be everlasting.” Many of the buildings co designed by her like, Chandigarh District Administrative Complexes at Moga and Hoshiarpur; Shaheed- e- Azam Bhagat Singh memorial Park, Khatkarkalan etc. have been designed with respect to conserving energy. She has participated in Various national and international conferences on Energy Conservation thus creating awareness among masses to adopt Non conventional Energy Resources and Energy saving/ Conservation. This helped in the promotion of the implementation of Energy Conservation Act, 2001 also.
Fellow of the IIA and an associate of the Institute of Town Planners India, Archana is also a Member of Publication Board of the Journal of IIA, Mumbai.
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