Ola: Many people, looking for energy-efficient solutions, rely on heat pumps. These, as it turns out, are often the wrong choice. In what cases will such solutions fail?
Kamil: Yes, this is a great example of the extremes. Over the last two years or so, there has been a complete reversal in the way we think about heat pumps. We have gone from seeing them as a small or unprofitable solution to the other extreme and treating pumps as a golden, universal remedy for rising operating costs. Nowadays, heat pumps are being installed, basically without much thought, to all buildings. Unfortunately, for the most part, in buildings that require extensive modernization in the first place. What's more, when selecting a solution, the power of the device is based only on the monthly/yearly heating costs, the electricity expenses of the facility or the costs incurred for domestic hot water.
The right sequence of modernization measures, bringing the building to the right energy standard is the basis! In properly carried out retrofits, the boiler room is implemented at the end. First we improve the energy efficiency of the building itself — we reduce its heating and cooling energy demand many times over, and only later we select an appropriate heat/cooling source, which, thanks to the reduction of heat/cooling losses, needs less power and operates at lower temperature parameters, among other things.
example of retrofitting a complex of several school buildings to the passive building standard
© Akademia Zdrowego Budownictwa
At this point, however, we have become accustomed to implementing retrofits the other way around, in a completely incorrect way. For houses, office buildings, schools, kindergartens, health centers, which are hollow as Swiss cheese, we install heat pumps, which, in addition, by power must correspond to the losses generated by the building, and their efficiency, life span is much lower.
To change this, education plays a key role here. Knowing the market background, the goals set in the construction sector, the expectations of investors, the increasing responsibility placed on participants in the construction process, it is in everyone's interest to have knowledge of passive, zero-energy or highly energy-efficient buildings. All designers, civil engineers, contractors, building material manufacturers, and investors should undergo continuing education that will enable them to move freely and knowledgeably in the field of buildings with the highest energy standards. Currently, most make design, construction, and investment decisions on the basis of prevailing myths, pseudo-facts, and inapplicable guidance on passive, zero-energy, or highly energy-efficient buildings.
Ola: Let's say I have a house built using a traditional method, what should I do now? What is the procedure? By when and how do I have the opportunity or obligation to adjust it to the new guidelines?
Kamil: This is a very interesting issue, which in Poland has not yet been translated into specific legislation!
We have dates, adopted, among others, as part of the Fit for 55 package signed by Poland, based on which all new buildings will have to be zero-emission from 2030. Will we follow in the footsteps of other European countries, where such regulations are gradually appearing today? In my opinion, faster than the introduction of regulations, we ourselves will change our beliefs and the way we look at real estate, precisely through the prism of its energy efficiency.
Theoretically, every new building that will be constructed from 2030 onward must be zero-emission, and for some public buildings this limit is 2027. The question, however, is whether it will be possible to introduce the principle that every building that will require modernization, based on the necessary building permit, will already be brought to the highest energy standards. Significant funds are earmarked for this, and I hope that by conducting further intensive education it will be possible to develop standards that will avoid many costly mistakes, eliminate, among other things, retrofitting processes that are incompatible with the current state of knowledge, carried out in a way that guarantees further retrofits.
Let me mention briefly what is happening in other European markets. When we buy a property in Belgium today, we have five years to bring it up to certain energy standards. With this in mind, let everyone answer the question of how they would value such a property (it doesn't matter whether residential, office, manufacturing or public utility). Certainly not according to the old rules, because since it requires high investment for the necessary modernization, its valuation will already be completely different, taking into account a new factor — energy efficiency. This will lower the value of old buildings and remodel practically the entire real estate market.
Ola: And how do these changes relate to the simplified procedure for building houses up to 70 sq. m? How will the new rules be enforced and verified in this case?
Kamil: If this investment will be made with the money of financial institutions, through, for example, a loan, I think the verification in this case will be very simple. Such an institution will clearly define the minimum level of the energy standard, making it clear that it will not finance something that is energy-intensive, looking out for its own interest as well. If someone wants to finance this with their own money then it is very possible that low energy standards will still be possible for a while, but certainly already more difficult in resale, where we use the energy performance document.
Interestingly, carrying out consultations and conducting expert training for investors, so far I have not met anyone who, having a complete knowledge of passive buildings, the market background and simple ways to improve energy efficiency in all buildings would consciously give up these solutions only to get locked into a construction that will be seemingly, because at the stage of implementation by 20, 30, 50 or even 100 thousand cheaper. Complete knowledge in investors causes them to make decisions completely differently — in a very conscious way, reallocating funds to things that play the most crucial role in buildings. With a conscious approach to the whole issue, it is possible to build any building to passive or zero-energy standard at a slightly higher cost (even only 5%, and on average 10% more expensive), compared to honestly fulfilled, applicable technical conditions. For this, professionals with precisely the right knowledge are needed, so that such buildings can be built in Poland on a mass scale. We have even created, at the request of investors, a special "Find a Master" list on the website of the Akademia Zdrowego Budownictwa, where you can find specialists with verified knowledge, needed at various stages of construction to successfully realize buildings in passive, zero-energy standard or even in compliance with technical conditions, but without errors....
Ola: Is there a single golden argument that always convinces skeptics?
Kamil: This is also a very interesting issue, because over the years these arguments have changed and not all of them have had the opportunity to be used until today. In my experience, having had the pleasure of co-designing passive buildings in different parts of the world, they also remained different. For investors from Poland, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands or Sweden, aspects of comfort, air quality, lack of problems with the physics of the building (fungi, mold) were important, with time only significantly lower operating costs or the increase in value of such buildings due to energy transformation. For investors from China, for example, the most important thing was the accompanying transfer of knowledge, new components, prestige, and, over time, significantly lower operating costs and an increase in the value of such buildings in the highest energy standards. Investors from the United Arab Emirates were convinced by temperature and air quality comfort, as well as the increased value of such investments.
However, no matter what knowledge investors already had, the knowledge of professionals was always crucial. Success in the form of a decision to implement a building to passive, zero-energy or highly energy-efficient standards has always depended on us — the design and construction team. And this is thanks to our knowledge, experience and ability to provide complete and reliable information on how the facilities in the highest energy standards function. I wish such success in the coming years to all investors. At the same time, I invite both investors and those professionally involved in the construction process to develop their knowledge of passive and zero-energy buildings at the Akademia Zdrowego Budownictwa. See you there!
Ola: Thank you for the interview.
