Investing into Better Energy-Efficient Houses

Hardly anyone is aware of the fact that in 40 years an average family of three will spend almost the equivalent of the entire house cost on heating it, sending up the chimney around €240,000. The sum is significant even for a well-to-do middle class family, not to mention a low-income one. At the same time, energy resources are quickly depleting, and their delivery routes are getting unreliable. In Eastern Europe, many homes were left without heat and hot water this winter which was beating minus temperature records, when gas supplies to Europe had been cut because of the political raw in Russian-Ukrainian relations.

These issues were at the center of discussions during the first workshop on energy efficiency in housing that took place this April in Sofia, Bulgaria, under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and with participation of Habitat Bulgaria. One of the suggested remedies was the “passive house” technology which allows buildings to keep the heat rather than feed it, thus cutting energy bills more than 10 times. Moreover, “passive house” transfers exhausts into heat which makes it also environment friendly.

This year, the European Union announced an action plan aiming to bring down energy consumption on national levels, cutting it by €100 billion per year, as well as introducing far reaching energy saving measures. The EU Commission is also ready to implement “passive house” standard into construction codes and introduce more stringent requirements for the refurbishment of existing buildings.

Habitat for Humanity has been running programs for energy-efficient renovations in a number of countries in Eastern Europe. The need to reduce heating bills is in many cases essential for the low-income families that are partnering with Habitat. By energy efficient home improvements, such as installing new doors, windows and flooring, families can save some money from their small budgets. Habitat has these projects in Slovakia and Ukraine.

Habitat Bulgaria it is trying to take the initiative to a new level by planning to build 12 new homes in Kostinbroad, a small city near Sofia, in accordance with the “passive house” technology. These buildings will have a comfortable interior climate without active heating and cooling systems. The construction adapts to the outside temperature to keep all the necessary warmth in winter and cool air in summer. Most of the work will be completed with volunteer labor, from local and recycled materials which can significantly reduce construction costs. Hence, low-income families will be able to move into simple, decent and affordable shelter. At the same time, the ground floor will be adapted to people with special needs. The future homeowners will be selected based on the need by local committees. They will receive affordable no-profit loans that they will repay into a revolving fund from which construction of more homes for the community will be funded.