Renovation of Residential Buildings of the First Mass Series

Abstract

The existing housing stock of the Russian Federation makes 3.6 billion m2 (2016). About 50% of houses in Russia need renovation. The considerable part of housing stock was constructed during an era of industrial housing construction. Many buildings of the first mass series have high strength characteristics. However, thermal comfort of these buildings in most cases unsatisfactory. This paper demonstrates the results of the investigations based on the field study and calculations of the thermal performance indicators of the standard residential building made of many box units. According to calculations, after thermal modernization of buildings the level of specific heat consumption for heating and ventilation will decrease twice. In this case, the building will approach to the low-energy building standard. This study provides calculations of required R-values of building elements for residential buildings at the renovation in cold climate of Russia. The optimal insulation thicknesses must be calculated for each region to make the energy efficient building. The results indicate that it is economically feasible to renovate high-energy houses in cold Russian climatic conditions. Such low-energy buildings have added good indoor environment, long lifetime, higher market value as well as they are environmentally friendly.