Energy Consumption and CO<sub>2</sub> Emission of Buildings Built with Industrialized Technology: The Case of Debrecen and Future Trends

Abstract

The residential buildings built with prefabricated technology (also called panel buildings) represent a significant part of the building stock, particularly in Eastern Europe. These buildings are typically 30-40 years old and due to their poor energy performance they have been in the focus of energy policy makers over the recent years. These buildings are typically connected to district heating systems and the continuously decreasing heat demand caused by the renovation subsidy programs resulting in risks of inefficient operation and on the long term it questions the viability of the district heating systems. Therefore it is particularly important to have a clear picture on the energy consumption trends about this segment of the building stock. In this paper, the building stock of the city of Debrecen connected to district heating is analysed. The current energy consumption figures of the buildings are analysed. In Debrecen, the share of retrofitted buildings is relatively low (appr. 15%), therefore a future trend analysis was also carried out. The results of this study can be interesting for other cities as well, particularly those with a significant share of “panel buildings”.