(Press-News.org) There are many old and decrepit residential buildings in Moscow in need of refurbishment. VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has developed three repair concepts for improving the energy efficiency of both buildings and entire residential districts while also reducing their environmental impact. Calculations show that it would be possible to reduce heating demand in buildings by up to 70%. Even minor repairs can achieve significant energy savings.
Most of the residential buildings in Moscow were built after the Second World War. Many of them are in poor shape and waste a lot of energy. VTT conducted a pilot study in a typical Moscow residential district, with a population of about 14,000.
VTT developed three repair concepts for improving the energy efficiency of both buildings and the district as a whole while also reducing their environmental impact. These concepts address not only energy consumption and water consumption solutions but also the processing of waste generated in the district. The findings of the study may be leveraged in determining the goals for repairs. However, impact assessment for repairs will require in-depth financial analyses to be conducted.
The basic concept developed by VTT for residential apartment buildings in Moscow incorporates affordable and easily implemented minimum repairs. Even the simplest of repairs could reduce the heating energy consumption in these buildings by about 40%. The improved repair concept can result in even better energy efficiency or eco-efficiency. The advanced repair concept is the most progressive of the three concepts presented. Calculations show that it would be possible to reduce heating energy consumption in buildings by up to 70%, and of electricity by about 25%. In practice, this involves for example improving heat insulation, installing heat recovery equipment in ventilation systems and improving water systems.
Because improving energy efficiency in individual buildings would not necessarily reduce the energy consumption of the district as a whole, VTT also developed three concepts for improving eco-efficiency in residential districts. In these concepts, the focus is on analysing energy production options, improving energy, water and waste water networks, improving waste management and improving outdoor lighting. Significant energy savings may be achieved at the district level using the repair scenarios presented. These savings may amount to nearly 40% in electricity demand and more than 70% in heating demand. Emissions analyses show that replacing natural gas with biogas in energy production would reduce carbon dioxide emissions but would increase sulphur dioxide and particulate emissions. A better solution would be to produce energy using renewable energy technologies such as geothermal heat pumps, solar panels, solar collectors or wind turbines; all of these would reduce overall emissions.
Currently, water consumption in Moscow is 272 litres per resident per day. Implementing a variety of new solutions would theoretically allow this to be brought down as far as to 100 litres, although this is a tough goal to meet. At present, more than 60% of the community waste generated in residential districts ends up at a landfill, while just under a third is incinerated and about 10% recycled. Developing waste management processes would allow the reuse rate to be increased to more than 75%. This would require not only infrastructure development but active waste recycling procedures adopted by the residents.
Statistics published by Rosstat indicate that there are some 40,000 residential buildings in Moscow, with a total of nearly 4 million homes. Of this residential building stock, 52% was built between 1945 and 1975.
The VTT study was funded by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland.
###
More information:
VTT
Satu Paiho, Senior Scientist
Tel. +358 20 722 4908
satu.paiho@vtt.fi
Further information on VTT:
Olli Ernvall
Senior Vice President, Communications
358 20 722 6747
olli.ernvall@vtt.fi
http://www.vtt.fi
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland is a leading multitechnological applied research organization in Northern Europe. VTT creates new technology and science-based innovations in co-operation with domestic and foreign partners. VTT's turnover is EUR 290 million and its personnel totals 3,100.
Finnish researchers to provide solutions for energy-efficient repairs in Moscow
2013-05-15
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Virginia Tech announces 2013 football helmet ratings; 1 more added to the 5 star mark
2013-05-15
Virginia Tech released today the results of its 2013 adult football helmet ratings, designed to identify differences between the abilities of helmets to reduce the risk of concussion. A total of four helmets achieved a 5 star mark, which is the highest rating awarded by the Virginia Tech Helmet Ratings™. The newly redesigned Xenith X2 joined the Riddell 360, Rawlings Quantum Plus, and Riddell Revolution Speed as the only helmets with a 5 star rating.
Two additional new helmet models introduced this year, the SG Adult Helmet and the Schutt Vengeance, were rated as ...
European winter weather harder to forecast in certain years
2013-05-15
Weather forecasters have a tougher job predicting winter conditions over Europe in some years over others, concludes a new study carried out by the National Oceanography Centre.
The study revealed that the relationship between our winter weather and the strength of the airflow coming in from the Atlantic – one of the factors used by forecasters to predict the weather – is stronger in some years than others. The results were recently published in the Royal Meteorological Society publication Weather.
Co-authors Drs Joël Hirschi and Bablu Sinha from the National Oceanography ...
Cells must use their brakes moderately for effective speed control
2013-05-15
How cells regulate their own function by "accelerating and braking" is important basic knowledge when new intelligent medicines are being developed, or when plant cells are tweaked to produce more bioenergy. In a study published by Nature Communications 14 May, researchers at Uppsala and Umeå universities show a model of how cells' regulatory systems work.
All living cells have a regulatory system similar to what can be found in today's smartphones. Just like our phones process a large amount of information that we feed them, cells continuously process information about ...
Body fat hardens arteries after middle age
2013-05-15
Having too much body fat makes arteries become stiff after middle age, a new study has revealed.
In young people, blood vessels appear to be able to compensate for the effects of obesity. But after middle age, this adaptability is lost, and arteries become progressively stiffer as body fat rises – potentially increasing the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease.
The researchers suggest that the harmful effects of body fat may be related to the total number of years that a person is overweight in adulthood. Further research is needed to find out when the effects of ...
No idle chatter: Study finds malaria parasites 'talk' to each other
2013-05-15
VIDEO:
Professor Alan Cowman (left) and Dr. Neta Regev-Rudzki from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne, Australia, have made the surprise discovery that malaria parasites can 'talk' to each...
Click here for more information.
Melbourne scientists have made the surprise discovery that malaria parasites can 'talk' to each other – a social behaviour to ensure the parasite's survival and improve its chances of being transmitted to other humans.
The finding could ...
How teenagers cope with inner-city risks
2013-05-15
With concerns often expressed about youth crime and violence in the UK, researchers have been investigating what young people really think about living in an inner-city neighbourhood that has high levels of deprivation, crime and gang activity.
The results revealed that to overcome concerns and cope with dangerous situations, girls tried to avoid or escape risky encounters - although for some this conflicted with a desire to be independent, glamorous and to seek out boyfriends. Boys, on the other hand, acted and talked tough to prove their street credentials but were ...
Homeowners do not increase consumption despite their property rising in value
2013-05-15
Although the value of our property might rise, we do not on that account increase our consumption. This is the conclusion by economists from University of Copenhagen and University of Oxford in new research which is contrary to the widely believed assumption amongst economists that if there occurs a rise in house prices then a natural rise in consumption will follow. The results of the study is published in the scientific journal 'The Economic Journal'.
"We argue that leading economists should not wholly be focussed on monitoring the housing market. Economists are closely ...
European Research Infrastructures help to solve air quality issues
2013-05-15
This news release is available in German. Brussels. Scientists have advocated for tightening the Air Quality Directive and expand research on air quality and climate change. Only appropriate investments in research can provide a solid basis for decision making in these areas that have major health and economic consequences for Europe's citizens. In 2013, the European Commission's air policy is reviewed, with a focus on finding ways to improve the quality of the air Europeans breathe. Under the title of „Frontline Research for Improved Air Quality and Climate Action", ...
Tiny water creepy crawlies from South Korea and the Russian Far East
2013-05-15
Water mites of the family Torrenticolidae are tiny, heavily sclerotized and crawling water creatures presently known from all continents except Antarctica. More than 400 species are described so far but this is expected to be only a minor pars of their diversity, especially in the tropical areas where the family is most species abundant. Until recently only one species was known from South Korea, and five from the Russian Far East. A recent study, published in the open access journal Zookeys, adds up to the diversity in this regions with 2 new to science species and 5 described ...
More sleep may decrease the risk of suicide in people with insomnia
2013-05-15
DARIEN, IL – A new study found a relationship between sleep duration and suicidal thoughts in people with insomnia.
Results show that every one-hour increase in sleep duration was associated with a 72 percent decrease in the likelihood of moderate or high suicide risk, in comparison with low risk. Data were adjusted for age, gender, race/ethnicity, education and age of onset of sleep difficulties.
"We were surprised by the strength of the association between sleep duration and suicide risk," said primary author Linden Oliver, MA, clinical research coordinator for the ...