In Romania, there are about 7.5 million families, of which about 7 million (94%) were built before 2000, and 3 million were built before 1989.
In such conditions, it is not surprising that 8 out of 10 Romanians declared that they have problems with housing. “Only if we take into account a sum of 5,000 euros for the renovation of an old apartment, we would reach a financing requirement of 15 billion euros”, explained on Saturday Lucian Anghel, the president of BCR BpL during a meeting with the press.
Even if the pace of renovation works is on a downward trend this year (INS indicating a decrease of over 22% in the volume of capital repairs and maintenance and current repairs in the first four months of 2017), the residential renovations sector will represent, in the medium term, an important resource for companies with activities in the construction sector in Romania.
Of course, most of the apartments that require capital repairs are owned by families that can hardly afford such an investment, which leads this potential to the gray economy area, but also to lower-quality construction materials. “We must realize that Romania has the oldest housing stock in the EU. There are blocks where no repair work has been carried out in the last 20-30 years. Most of these blocks urgently need repairs”, Lucian Anghel also pointed out.
According to a recent IRSOP study, 84% of those who responded to the survey mentioned at least one problem with their home, and 91% bought at least one product needed for repairs: paint, silicone, sanitary ware, tiles, tiles, cement, etc. The biggest housing problems occur in poor households, with incomes below 3,000 lei per household.
Although the price of construction materials used to renovate houses is similar to that of countries in the region, the average monthly gross salary in our country is more than six times lower than in Austria and almost twice lower than in Slovakia or the Czech Republic. the head of BCR BpL also said.
Housing comfort is extremely important, a study by the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) shows, for example, that access to windows with a view to the outside improves cognitive functions and memory by 10-25%, and in hospitals reduces hospitalization time by 8 ,5%.
At the same time, natural light at work increases worker productivity by 18%, at school it improves student performance by 5-14%, and in stores sales increase by 15-40%.
- A third of the houses do not have a bathroom inside the house. There are obviously big differences between urban and rural areas, there is a locality where 7 out of 10 houses do not have a bathroom inside
- The proportion of clients who have housing problems is higher in poor households, for all categories of problems, apart from the size of the housing. But housing problems are systemic because they are also present in households with above average income.
- In blocks of flats, one out of 4 Romanians lives in houses where the number of people is greater than the number of living rooms. Excessive density occurs more frequently in young clients (18-34).
- Romanians who complain that the house is too small report significantly higher rates of psychological stress than clients who report other deficiencies with the house.
Ten simple ways to improve comfort in your home
1. Shading of glazed surfaces – Windows are the places through which the most unwanted heat enters/exits. Shading them during the summer significantly reduces heat intake. In this sense, external shading, whether we are talking about canopies, blinds or shutters, for example, are much more effective than internal shading, such as curtains or blinds.
2. Appropriate thermal insulation – Calculated after a technical-economic analysis, thermal insulation not only reduces energy consumption for heating and cooling, but also ensures a temperature of the inner surfaces of the walls close to the internal temperature, which gives thermal comfort to the occupants.
3. Efficient thermal equipment – Modern equipment, which works with electricity, such as heat pumps, can provide thermal agent corresponding to the achievement of thermal comfort and are friendly to the environment, especially if the electricity used is produced locally, from renewable sources. However, even for conventional thermal equipment, such as micro-gas boilers or wood-fired boilers, there are effective alternatives – the micro-condensing boiler and the wood-fired boiler with gasification.
4. Ventilation – Whether it is done naturally, by opening the windows, or mechanically, by means of a ventilation installation, refreshing the air in buildings is necessary to maintain an adequate air quality. Mechanical ventilation, compared to natural ventilation, has the advantage of being controllable, which contributes to energy efficiency.
5. Evacuation of humidity – In rooms where large releases of humidity occur, namely kitchens and bathrooms, it is necessary to place ventilation means – windows or fans, respectively a kitchen hood. Otherwise, in addition to thermal discomfort, humidity contributes over time to the development of moisture and molds. Therefore, the moisture must be removed before it condenses on solid surfaces.
6. Maintenance of ventilation installations – In the case of buildings equipped with such installations, the instructions for cleaning, sanitizing and changing filters and consumables must be followed in order to guarantee the quality of the air introduced into the building through the installation.
7. Sound insulation of technical spaces – For technical rooms where there are noise-producing equipment, sound insulation is necessary and, if necessary, the installation of anti-vibration fixing solutions. A good sound insulation is mineral wool, which also has the role of thermal insulation.
8. Light shades in interior design At a psychological level, they create comfort by emphasizing the idea of space and reflect light, contributing to increasing visual comfort.
9. Favoring natural light – For its role in the normal functioning of the body’s cycles, natural light, to the detriment of artificial light, must be favored.
10. Appropriate artificial lighting from a qualitative point of view – In addition to the quantitative aspect, of having a suitable intensity of light, the qualitative aspects must also be followed – avoiding light/dark alternations, avoiding blindness through direct lighting, using indirect lighting and devices lighting that provides diffused light.
Source: http://m.hotnews.ro
