Case Study: nZEC - Energy refurbishment of 17 dwellings in Prof. Giovanni Gorini Street, Sofia, Bulgaria

Short Description

The project was carried out because of the high price for heating and the uncomfortable indoor climate. The project was implemented within the framework of the National Renovation Program with a 75% of subsidy on the renovation costs. The building construction type is brickwork on concrete skeleton. The heating of the building is district heating hot water type with water temperature 140/70 degree С. There is a heat exchanger located in the basement.

The investment project for building energy renovation comprehends a complete refurbishment of the building envelope – thermal insulation of the external walls, the roof, the ground slab and replacement of the window frames with PVC double glazing. The project also includes renovation of the common areas – staircases, building installations, heat exchanger, etc. The decrease in the energy consumption for heating is achieved by: decrease of thermal transmittance (U value) coefficient of the external walls; decrease of thermal transmittance (U value) coefficient of the roof; decrease of thermal transmittance (U value) coefficient of the building ground slab; decrease of thermal transmittance (U value) coefficient and the infiltration of the windows and the doors. The achieved reduction in energy use is 59%. The achieved reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is 45 t/y.

Key Elements

Certification

Energy certificate.

Project Management

Monitoring service quality.

Funding

Solar Thermal

Thermal insulation system for the building envelope – external walls, roof, ground slab; replacement of the existing window frames with PVC double glazing window frames; replacement of the lighting system.

Heating and Hot Water

District heating with hot water.

Work with Residents

Support and advice for homeowners during the project preparation phase and the approval of the investment needed for the planned energy renovation measures; support and advice for homeowners during the project implementation phase; advice for homeowners on the subsequent management and maintenance phase.

Main Results

• The achieved reduction in energy use is 59%.
• The achieved reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is 45t/y.
• The renovated building obtained energy certificate class B after the completion of the refurbishment project.
• Increased comfort of the living environment with higher quality of indoor climate at the same pre-renovation annual energy expenditure.
• Increased value of the apartments.
• Protected building structure without thermal bridges.
  
  
  

Lessons learned

The lessons learnt from the existing legal and organisational framework for the implementation of projects for energy renovation of condominium buildings can be summarized as follows:

• The coordination of all project related activities is time and resource consuming due to the large number of stakeholders involved, diverse sources of available financing and the unique and complex nature of the activity.
• The possible multiplication and up scaling of renovation activities will reduce the time and resources needed and thus, will increase the effectiveness in technical and financial terms. These up scaling will not only increase the financial efficiency but will enable residents’ involvement and satisfaction from the improvement of their homes and living environment.
• One of the serious legal barriers to deal with during the implementation of subsidy based renovation is the heavy, complicated and often ambiguous procedure for public procurement involving national subsidies and targeted EU funds.
• The last but not least, the Condominium Act does not oblige the apartment owners to form a homeowners’ association as a legal entity and does not regulate the issues deriving from the ambiguous character of the owners’ assembly. The Condominium Act needs further improvements especially in its part dedicated to incentivize the overall activity and the financial input on behalf of the homeowners’ associations in condominium buildings to be renovated.
  
  
  

Additional Information

Ms Eleonora Gaydarova
CAC - The Bulgarian Union of Homeowners Associations
E-mail: cac@mail.orbitel.bg
Web: www.cac-bg.org