Of the total electricity consumption in year 2014-15 in India, residential and commercial buildings accounted for ~23% and ~8%, respectively. It is likely that there could be ten fold increase in electricity consumption in these segments in the next thirty years.

The Asian brick industry is a huge economic sector employing many millions of people and consuming sizeable amounts of energy, mostly in the form of coal and firewood. It is a very conservative and change-resistant industry, especially in South Asia, but has a very interesting potential for change. If it does change, energy savings and a reduction of CO2 emissions similar to the entire airline industry would be possible. This publication tells the story of the Herculean task of cleaning up the Asian brick industry, an important sector in the booming economies of Asia.