Thermal Performance of Buildings - Federal Code Revision

Country / jurisdiction: Russian Federation · Year: 2003 · Status: In force · Level: National · Type: Voluntary

Announced in February 2003, the new federal Thermal Performance of Buildings entirely replaced the federal building code, Thermal Engineering for Buildings, revised in 1995 and 1998. Effective 1 October 2003, the new code:

establishes numerical values for required performance targets, corresponding to world levelsl;

classifies new and existing buildings according to their energy efficiency;

encourages buildings that are more efficient than required by code;

creates a mechanism for identifying low-performing existing buildings and mandating necessary upgrades;

develops design guidelines for both prescriptive and performance-based compliance paths;

develops methods for oversight and enforcement of compliance in terms of thermal performance and energy efficiency (energy passports), during design, construction, and prospective operation phases.

SNiP (Stroitelnye Normy i Pravila, or Construction Codes and Regulations) 23-02 establishes two means for achieving compliance with the federal thermal standard:

A trade-off model, in which a buildings energy performance is calculated for the entire building, enabling specific elements to be more or less efficient than required. Such holistic calculation accounts for heating controls and heat-supply system efficiency.

A prescriptive model, in which individual elements of the building envelope face required thermal resistance values.

Choice between means of compliance falls to the buildings owner and/or designer, though industrial buildings may comply only through the prescriptive path. New code requirements for windows account for the temperature differences near cold surfaces to calibrate an indoor air temperature of 20 degrees C. The 2003 code classifies and rates new, renovated and existing buildings according to thermal performance and energy consumption. Those buildings with exceeding the design or normalized specific energy consumption of code stipulated level by between 10 and 50 percent (High) and more than 51 percent (Very high) would qualify for economic incentives, though administration of these was left to sub-national goverments. These same regional and municipal agencies were responsible for enforcing the federal code, and for administering the energy audits of all new buildings prior to their occupancy. The 2003 also considered building geometry when establishing standards for reduction in energy consumption, similar to a German approximation of appropriate energy consumption metrics in place since 1975.

To complement the SNiP Thermal Performance of Buildings SNiP, Russias federal authority published a technical manual to guide architects, builders and contractors in the design of structures in compliance with efficiency regulations: 23-101-2004 (Design of Thermal Performance of Buildings)

Official source: http://www.sustainablebuildingscentre.org/buildings/codes/Russia/National/residential/new/Thermal%20Performance%20of%20Buildings