Belgrade : University of Belgrade - Faculty of Architecture
Abstract
Achieving the desired degree of energy efficiency in buildings has become an imperative of
nowadays construction.This requirement is set in relation to both new and existing buildings, in
order to reduce their energy consumption, but also to improve the overall comfort, especially
thermal, contributing in this way to a creation of a healthier place.
Measures that are applied in order to improve energy efficiency in buildings include various
interventions on its thermal envelope, which in the case of energy renovation of existing
residential buildings is not necessarily all-inclusive.The effectiveness of the measures
implemented to assess the appropriate calculation methodology of the energy required for
heating, as in the case of existing regulations in Serbia, implies that applied enhancement should
contribute to the improvement of their energy class for at least one energy rate. Such
improvement, especially in the case of larger buildings, could be achieved only by improving the
air-tightness of the existing windows, but their replacement with windows of high energy
performances is the most common measure in practice. However, without energy rehabilitation of
surrounding façade walls, such intervention could cause condensation along the peripheral,
insufficiently insulated, non-transparent structures. Thus, the positive effects of the improvement
measures could be questioned.
Taking into account the characteristics of the existing building stock in Serbia, typical situations
of existing contacts between the façade walls and the corresponding windows are simulated in
the paper, in relation to the risk of condensation and consequent potential users’ health problems
