A comparative survey of the energy performances of dwellings across Cyprus

Abstract

Cyprus, due to a long-lasting political conflict, has been divided for nearly 50 years, Greek Cypriot community living in the southern and Turkish Cypriot community living in the northern part of the island. Research has been carried out on both sides of the island separately, to meet the requirements of the Directive 2002/91/EC on energy performance of buildings. In the present study, an attempt was made to characterize the energy performances of dwellings across Cyprus since the negotiations to settle the problem between the two communities are still in progress. The methodology and the results of a recent survey conducted in the northern part are presented together with an earlier data reported for the residential building stock in the southern part of the island. It is noted that the dwellings in the northern part had relatively smaller mean floor area and lower electricity consumptions. The utilization of central heating systems and double glazed windows were more common in the southern part. Nevertheless, similar house types with often poor external wall insulations, extensive use of solar domestic hot water systems, significant cooling energy consumptions and almost the same primary energy demand per total area appear to be the common features of most dwellings in both parts of the island.