The CARISMED project involves Greece, Palestine, Spain, Italy, Tunisia and Jordan and promotes low-cost and scalable strategies for the reuse and efficiency upgrading of urban buildings (we talked about it here). In each partner country, we started by mapping vacant or run-down buildings and analysing their construction characteristics.
In Greece there are a total of 4,105,637 buildings, the majority of which (79%) are for residential use. Only a very small percentage has been built in the last decade and the most commonly used material is concrete, followed by brick and finally stone. In very few cases (3%) wood or eco-friendly materials were used. Sixty per cent have pitched roofs, while 40% of structures opt for a flat roof. At present, it is not possible to ascertain, through statistics or registers, the exact total number of abandoned or disused buildings; however, it is estimated that 35% of existing flats are empty – a figure that amounts to more than 2 million potential dwellings. Of these, only a quarter are not equipped with any kind of air-conditioning system.
From this data, four case studies were selected. For each of them, the key aspects, integrated practices and any challenges encountered during implementation are described.
The Center For Renewable Energy Sources (CRES) in cooperation with the Municipality of Agia Varvara, a small town 6 km from Athens inhabited mainly by low-income citizens, has developed Green Pilot Urban Neighbourhood, a pilot project involving the renovation of four social housing complexes (72 flats totalling 4,800 square metres) with the aim of improving their energy balance and reducing the residents’ energy bills. This will be achieved – among other things – by installing photovoltaic panels on the roof, replacing window frames, insulating the walls and adding vegetation in the outdoor areas.
ELIH-MED (Energy Efficiency in Low-Income Housing in the Mediterranean) was an important strategic initiative funded by the MED Programme 2007-2013. The University of Thrace, with the support of CRES and the Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, led the energy renovation of five student residences housing a total of 700 students. The intervention embraced measures such as external insulation, the installation of solar collectors and energy-saving light bulbs. The active involvement of the student body was significant, with awareness-raising campaigns and information events also involving the local authorities.
REPUBLIC-MED (Retrofitting Public spaces in Intelligent Mediterranean Cities) is a study carried out by CRES in the port city of Piraeus, which examined two schools, a government building and two pedestrian areas, imagining different possible scenarios related to retrofit practices.
SOLE, formerly known as HELIOS, is a pilot project of the University of Athens (NTUA) implemented in one of the historic buildings of the campus that houses a 920-square-metre laboratory, where photovoltaic panels, an LED lighting system, new window frames and a consumption monitoring system will be installed.
