Potential for for energy efficiency and CO2 emission reduction by refurbishment of housing building stock built before 1919 in Serbia

Abstract

Single and multi-family houses built before 1919 account for 3.8 % of total Serbian housing stock. However, due to their important cultural and historic values, and continuous tenant occupation, these buildings nowadays require rehabilitation both because of contemporary energy performance demands, as well as for the need of achieving a desired level of living comfort. Since these buildings are often subject to heritage protection regime, issues of their refurbishment are more complex than those of the rest of the housing building stock. Their treatment also differs from refurbishment of other historic buildings, due to the sustained residential function. The National Typology of Residential Buildings in Serbia was developed within the TABULA ("Typology Approach for Building Stock Energy Assessment") project that had common methodology for 15 European participating countries, where Serbia was the only country from the Western Balkans region. This paper presents a detail study of specifics and refurbishment potentials of the selected building period, exploring a different approach towards the topic of energy refurbishment, having in mind all the characteristics that define presented building types. Although identified through national survey, the building types analysed in this paper can be found throughout the region, within the similar context. Furthermore, in urban areas of many European cities, these century-old buildings are often subject of gentrification processes with increasing interest in their thorough rehabilitation, while in rural areas old buildings are often converted to accommodate tourists.