YOUR HOME
Why Energy Audit Is Necessary and How to Make Dormitory a Comfortable Housing?
The longread focus today includes several important issues which are presented in detail and with several examples. Number one is the building-level heat meters which indicate real problems of the building, and number two – the energy auditor who can diagnose the problems, and prescribe the solutions. One more interesting topic is transformation of the dormitory into the housing which is not only suitable for decent living but also comfortable. It is being surveyed on examples of Kyiv and Odesa homeowners associations (HOA).
Heat Meter – the Most Honest Judge of Building Energy Efficiency
Downtown Kyiv. In the area where HOA "MZhK-10" multi-apartment building is located, the buildings were mostly constructed in the Soviet times. The HOA was established here back in 1999. But the building is serviced by the ZhEK.
Until 2016, the residents were not concerned much about the engineering systems of their building. A push for their actions was a problem with the heating system. There was a so called SRT installed here – an old Soviet heating system with gradual heat regeneration. It was extremely inefficient and had low efficiency rate. But nobody noticed it until a heat meter was installed in the building.
Until 2016, the residents were not concerned much about the engineering systems of their building. A push for their actions was a problem with the heating system. There was a so called SRT installed here – an old Soviet heating system with gradual heat regeneration. It was extremely inefficient and had low efficiency rate. But nobody noticed it until a heat meter was installed in the building.
The meter was installed in the building basement in November 2015. Ever since, the residents started receiving the bills in which the numbers were twice as high as in the neighboring buildings. The meter was just registering all heat losses in this inefficient heating system. The residents decided to eliminate this problem before the beginning of the next heating season. And they started a comprehensive thermal modernization of the building heating system.
But first an energy audit was conducted. In order to do everything correctly, the HOA invited an expert who carefully surveyed everything and developed the action plan for elimination of the key problems.
The energy auditor prompted correct solutions, and now the residents pay only half as much. The savings are due to the individual heat substation. Numbers for comparison. In January 2016, all residents consumed 633 Gigacalories. In January 2017 – only 302. What is the secret of significant savings?
The individual heat substation has several key construction elements. The circulators improve heat carrier circulation in the system, therefore the building is heated more evenly. The weather based controller controls heat consumption depending on outdoor temperature. The controller reduces supply of heat carrier to the system when it gets warmer outdoors.
In addition, part of the pipes was relayed in the building. The risers were balanced. Part of the windows and doors in common areas were replaced.
Owners of the apartments could not afford financially to install an individual heat substation. It cost in this building almost UAH 1 million 200 thousand. Therefore, the HOA participated in the municipal "70/30" program. The municipal budget financed installation of the individual heat substation. The HOA undertook to replace the windows in common areas which cost almost UAH 500 thousand. Total amount of investments in energy saving was about UAH 1 million 700 thousand.
The building residents decided not to stop on this. In 2017, the HOA again took part in the municipal program. They plan to finish replacement of the windows and doors in common areas with the energy efficient ones.
Energy Audit: Step by Step
Kyiv, Teremki residential district. This multi-apartment building was constructed in the 2000-s, at the time when nobody cared about energy efficiency. Today, everything is different, and the main problem of this building is cost of heating. It is higher here than in the neighboring buildings. In order to find a solution, it was decided to conduct energy audit.
Energy Auditor's Advice and Comments
Energy auditor: Serhii Svystiuk, after surveying the building, he commented on the following issues:
1
Scrappy Heat Insulation
"I see a lot of scrappy heat insulation. Tell me, are the residents doing this because they are cold? Or they have extra money?"
2
Metering and Engineering Systems
"The first thing that your building must have is metering. And you have it. Another condition – it should be controlled. You have now the pumps for circulation and the control valve on the heating system. Most probably, it is connected to the outdoor temperature sensor which controls heating depending on weather change. This is what I see. How it works, we will find out in the course of survey of the controller and heat energy meter."
3
Heat Insulation Is Not a Priority Measure
"And the following steps should be exactly heat insulation of the walls, window replacement, insulation of the attic and basement floor slabs, we will also estimate if they are sufficient, what heat losses they have, how they will influence general economics."
4
Massive Heat Exchanger and Non-Insulated Pipes
"You have quite a massive heat exchanger and it is not insulated. I think that temperature in these premises is up to thirty degrees, maybe even more. And hot water pipes should all be insulated. Calculate their area, and this is nothing else that open radiators, but what do they heat? Nothing."
5
Replacement of Incandescent Lamps with LED Lamps
"Do you have all lamps like these in the common areas? Yes? Today, the most energy efficient are LED lamps."
6
Warm Pipes by Cold Windows
"And your window, to tell you the truth, has gaps in it. Thus, your hot pipes are next to a cold window and they cool down, accordingly. This is two-three degrees lost by the upward supply, and this is money paid by the residents for getting nothing. These pipes should be insulated. And insulation here must be at least 40 mm."
7
Non-Insulated Floor Slabs
"The task of energy audit is to survey not only the walls, windows, and basements that we visited with you, it includes also survey of what is happening up there. In this case, we are interested in heated volume of the building. This means we will need characteristics of this floor slab under our feet. What insulator is used here? There is no insulator here. You just have 50 mm of screed coat, and that's it."
While we were preparing YOUR HOME program, the HOA started acting and took part in the Kyiv "70/30" program. It is planned to replace the windows and doors here, to modernize the heating system and to insulate the building façade. Total cost of works is almost UAH 17 million. Larger part of these expenses will be paid by the city.
More details on optimal succession of steps for thermal modernization of the building – in the article of joint project of "Obozrevatel" portal and the USAID Municipal Energy Reform Project in Ukraine:
https://goo.gl/685TbR
https://goo.gl/685TbR
How HOAs Turn Former Dormitories into Comfortable and Energy Efficient Housing: Story from Kyiv
This building at the city outskirts used to be a "newsmaker" once. Its residents were forced to block the street in order to attract attention to their problem. They had no light for over a week. Electricity was turned on after their protest.
The matter is that it is a former dormitory of one of the enterprises in Kyiv. The plant became bankrupt and left behind a lot of debts. And now there is an intention to make the residents pay part of these debts, specifically debts on electricity.
The matter is that it is a former dormitory of one of the enterprises in Kyiv. The plant became bankrupt and left behind a lot of debts. And now there is an intention to make the residents pay part of these debts, specifically debts on electricity.
These debts were the reason of turned off electricity. Kyivenergo refuses to conclude contracts on electricity supply with the residents or with the HOA. They say that the dormitory is still in the enterprise's balance sheet. Therefore, the residents were forced to pay according to the readings of the building-level meter but according to the commercial tariff. And it turns out that the meter itself and the switch room are located in privatized premises.
There are 3 elevators in the building. None of them was functioning. They were de-energized for the debts. In order to start protecting their rights, the dormitory residents established a HOA. There were all legal prerequisites in place for this. The dormitory was transferred to the residential building status in 2002. Over 80 percent of apartments here are privatized.
The HOA gradually instilled order in the building. Previously, there were lakes of water, geysers from the holey pipes. But it is dry and light here now. Electricity was laid here. In order to improve the basement, the apartment owners spent more than UAH 48 thousand. Then they started to repair one of the elevators. They collected UAH 37 thousand. Due to the special system, the elevator can be used only by those who paid for its repair and received the electronic cards.
The HOA has already signed an agreement on waste removal. Further, the HOA will take full care of cleanliness in the building.
And infographics below shows an approach taken by the characters of YOUR HOME program for establishment of a HOA in the dormitory.
How HOAs Turn Former Dormitories into Comfortable and Energy Efficient Housing: Story from Odesa
Odesa. This is a former family dormitory too? Constructed in 1964. The HOA was established here in 2005. The building is in good condition for its age. Due to a set of implemented measures, cost of heating has reduced here by 37%. The HOA chairman tells how they were able to instill order in the building.
Instilling order in the building became possible because the apartment owners trust the chairman of their HOA, and she, in her turn, was able to receive as much as possible from the existing government programs.
This and other information – in a full episode of YOUR HOME program broadcast on TV channel UA:PERSHYI every Friday at 7.00 p.m. with support of the USAID Municipal Energy Reform Project in Ukraine.
If you are a fan of energy efficiency, section "YOUR HOME: Practice" will be the source of new ideas for implementation in your home. This time, you will learn how to glue together PVC pipes in your building easily and without any problem. And to do it so that the pipes will stay together for many years!
We invite you to watch the full 2nd episode of Season 3 of YOUR HOME program created with the support of the USAID Municipal Energy Reform Project in Ukraine.
