Chief of Party (Team Leader)
USAID ECO-III Project
Aalok Deshmukh of International Resources Group heads the USAID funded bilateral ECO-III project. Under the project, he works as a Technical Advisor to the Bureau of Energy Efficiency and to the Government of Gujarat. Prior to joining ECO-III, Aalok worked with Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) for four years. He has a Master’s degree in Building Science from Arizona State University, Tempe, USA and a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from Academy of Architecture, Mumbai.
He has experience spanning contributions to more than 125 projects, including energy efficiency program implementation and strategic corporate-, development- and building-level sustainability research and consulting. He has experience in commercial building performance benchmarking and energy code implementation assistance, energy analysis, energy auditing, commissioning and retro-commissioning; as well as building simulation, including energy modeling and computational fluid dynamics tools. He is a LEED Accredited Professional and a Certified Measurement & Verification Professional. He has also been a part of the LEED certification review team and has served on the LEED NC Core Committee for the US Green Building Council.
Aalok provides technical and programmatic advice on the conception, development and implementation of several energy efficiency initiatives including the building benchmarking program and Star Rating Program for commercial buildings, Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) implementation, ECBC conformance tool development and ECBC proficiency and training programs, a state-wide Municipal Energy Efficiency Program using performance contracting, a strategy roadmap for driving net zero energy buildings at scale in India, an architecture/engineering curriculum enhancement program, and state-level load research studies. While at RMI, most notably, Aalok managed RMI’s efforts on the greening of the Empire State Building, which incorporated an energy efficiency retrofit for the 2.7 million sq. ft. landmark office building – where implementation is currently underway, in part under a performance contract, for 38% annual energy use reduction ($4.4 million annual savings) at an incremental cost (for energy efficiency) of $13.2 million over planned capital upgrades of $93.7 million. Concurrently, he also managed RMI’s efforts on providing technical assistance for an energy efficiency building retrofit program that brings together the world’s largest cities, building owners, banks and energy service companies.
He is a licensed architect in India, where he has also been briefly involved in research and teaching; and has published several peer-reviewed technical and research papers at national and international conferences. He is called upon to provide inputs on a number of studies and publications, and has been an invited speaker and instructor at several events. He has a keen interest in the development and application of appropriate technologies, standards, and sustainability indicators as they pertain to the environmental impact of buildings – across various corporate and international contexts in general – and especially in India and developing economies.
