’Energy upgrade’’ is a term which describes any efforts made to reduce the consumption of energy reserves simultaneously covering a building’s needs for energy (cooling or heating). Nowadays there is a huge demand for energy resources, especially in big cities. The general standards from KENAK (Greek Institute of Energy Upgrade of Buildings) strictly have to be met not only by new buildings or ones fully renovated but also by those with partial interventions to restore a technical system, unit or even a single window!!
Requirements from KENAK are subject to change introducing even stricter limitations in the next few years, according to the European regulations for structures of almost zero energy consumption (NZEBs). From 2019 onwards, every new state building and the future ones must comply with this rule and be eco-friendly.
- External thermal insulation (thermal facing).
- Thermal windows and doors.
- Heating systems.
- External thermal insulation (thermal facing).
‘’External thermal insulation’’ describes a system which is capable of insulating even the different structural elements of a surface with consistency, so as to avoid the creation of thermic gaps. In this kind of thermal systems the facing materials are layered on the external walls of the existing building and provide the most efficient way of insulation (leaving cold and heat out)
A complete such system should guarantee optimal performance against the different weather conditions, mechanic strains, wind pressure, strong forges and other factors that may impact the system’s functionality resulting in :
- Energy save up.
- Energy upgrade and protection of the building.
- Protection of the environment.
- Aesthetic quality
- Thermal windows and doors.
Using the term ‘’thermal’’ for windows and doors we mean the new generation aluminum frames, which have dynamically replaced ‘’cold’’ profiles. The replacement with such frames practically has proved to be vital for energy save up and contributes to the overall reduction of energy expanses up to more than 20 %. Depending on the specific area where a building stands, one can expect to recuperate their investment within a short period of time saving on cooling and heating expenditure. Moreover, substituting old windows and doors with modern thermal ones means even more benefits for the owner/renter such as more safety, better sound proofing and aesthetics as well as optimum performance and preclusion of possible condensation.
- Heating systems.
Admittedly a great amount of energy is required to cover all heating/cooling needs of a building. Getting the central or autonomous (heating/cooling) system upgraded is considered to be a great intervention for a residence. Older systems used to be energy-consuming and this is exactly the reason why they should be replaced with contemporary new ones. The old conventional heating systems consist of the boiler (run on gas or diesel) the distributor- circulator, the pipes and the thermal panels. The new generation systems, accredited with certified improvements, following engineering studies, enable optimum efficiency at a very low energy consumption
