Bhubaneswar: The housing and urban development department will appoint special auditors to implement its energy conservation norms in new and existing buildings.

Professionals will help the urban local body and the development authority to comply with the norms, including installation of rainwater harvesting and solar rooftop systems. It will be implemented in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar in the first phase.

The housing and urban development as well as the energy departments will organise training programmes for architecture students at the new Research and Training Centre at Gothapatna.

"We drafted the Odisha Energy Conservation Building Code. The auditors will provide handholding support to implement the norms," said a housing and urban development department official.

The government has rolled out a programme to install solar rooftop system on buildings in the twin cities. "We have started creating awareness on the energy conservation methods and are encouraging people to opt for it," said mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.

The government also plans to make it mandatory for buildings, mainly the commercial ones, to install rainwater harvesting and solar rooftop systems as part of the code.

"It is important to have experts to design and specify the new installations. The energy auditors will help with that," said Jena.

The code had been formulated in 2011, while the development authority incorporated those in its Planning and Building Standards Regulations to ensure energy efficiency in 2013.

Sources said the energy auditors would be present during the scrutiny of building plan applications and incorporate the energy conservation measures in them.