It is widely and long known that the renovation rates of buildings are far too low, not only in the EU, especially to counteract the urgent need to limit global warming sufficiently and quickly enough. Against the backdrop of the renewed failure to meet targets in the area of energy efficiency upgrading of buildings, a central component of the Green Deal is the so-called Renovation Wave. This European Commission action plan for greater and comprehensive progress in renovation is ambitious in its targets and shortens the time horizon for achieving them.
Innovative solutions and approaches are now required, and digitalisation and automation must also be given greater importance in renovation. Otherwise, it will not be possible to improve climate protection and achieve the large-scale decarbonization of the building sector.
In Eastern Europe, the building stock is characterised by standardised building types that were built on a large scale in prefabricated construction in Soviet times. Energy efficiency, insulation and ventilation were largely ignored, as a lot of living space was needed in a short span of time. The result is buildings that have offered little living comfort for decades and in some cases pose a health risk to residents.
However, the serial construction of these residential buildings now also offers an opportunity. Because what was built industrially may offer good conditions for industrial refurbishment: The need for energy upgrades can be met with modular refurbishment solutions, so that the refurbishment backlog can be counteracted across the board and at speed.
The advantages of serial (industrial) refurbishment lie primarily in the cost savings that result as soon as the demand for the process increases and becomes reliably foreseeable. The time saved by prefabricating elements and systems in the factory is another factor that speaks in favor of serial refurbishment – also from the residents’ perspective. This is because the time saved on the construction site itself also means fewer and shorter disruptions to their living environment. In some cases, it is not even necessary to move out of the buildings for a short time.
Prefabrication and the serial approach can also counteract the shortage of skilled workers, which poses major challenges for all sectors across the EU, as fewer personnel are required on construction sites and more automation and digitalisation are used.
The task now is to create the conditions for the advantages of serial refurbishment to be recognised and spread, especially in Eastern Europe, where the application potential is particularly large and inexpensive. Campaigns and, above all, concrete project activities will make the approach more visible and the process can be spreaded more widely. In this way, demand is increased, the costs of the process can be gradually reduced and the progress of remediation can be significantly supported.
As part of our long-standing activities for the energy-efficient refurbishment of apartment buildings in residential property in Eastern Europe, we are committed to disseminating the approach in various countries in this region.
In Ukraine in particular, there is great potential for serial refurbishment and construction, which we are keeping an eye on and preparing with other partners and sponsors in order to be able to test the approach quickly and practically in examples of implementation as part of the efforts to rebuild and repair housing after the end of the war.
