Retrofitting of multi-family buildings towards healthier settlements

Abstract

The subject of the paper is retrofitting of suburban multifamily buildings built in the late fifties and early sixties at Karaburma, Belgrade. According to the data collected by Serbia Statistical Office, about 55 percent of the existing housing units in Belgrade were built during the sixties and seventies and they were designed without consideration of energy demands and consumption. The same problem is present in the case of Karaburma settlement. Buildings were in poor condition until the retrofitting in 2009. The retrofitting was carried out on a significant number of buildings and still takes place in the settlement. The main retrofitting objectives are: the identification of housing typologies related to new user’s needs, the complying with new technical regulations in terms of energy efficiency and accessibility for disables. The retrofitting concept was aimed to improve living comfort, especially thermal comfort, in order to achieve energy savings and healthier environments. Solutions for the retrofitting are shown in the paper. The improvement of living comfort and building appearance was achieved by annex of attics, addition of balconies as new structures and organized closing (glazing) of balconies, as well as by laying of thermal insulation on the facade surface and it’s painting in different colors resulting in housing diversity. The benefits are in improving energy performances of the buildings and living conditions generally. The results show that significant energy savings and reduction of CO2 emissions can be obtained with different and simple retrofitting measures.