Residential Building Construction Techniques and the Potential for Energy Efficiency in Central Asia: Example from High-Altitude Rural Settlement in Kyrgyzstan

Kedar Mehta (), Wilfried Zörner and Rick Greenough
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Kedar Mehta: Institute of new Energy Systems (InES), Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt, 85051 Ingolstadt, Germany
Wilfried Zörner: Institute of new Energy Systems (InES), Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt, 85051 Ingolstadt, Germany
Rick Greenough: Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development, De Montfort University, Leicester LE1 9BH, UK

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 23, 1-23

Abstract: Building construction in rural Kyrgyzstan is heavily dominated by earthen buildings. Old and inappropriate residential building structures contribute significantly to high domestic space heating energy consumption. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the relevant building construction techniques. However, the scant information on Kyrgyz building techniques, especially for high-altitude rural settlements, was the prime motivation to perform the presented study. The key objective of the study is to investigate residential building construction techniques in high-altitude rural Kyrgyzstan, and this was to be achieved by house visits during field trips, literature review, and pilot interviews with local people. The analysis enabled the detailed identification of individual building envelopes as well as predominant building materials to be recorded. Based on the assessment, a housing profile was created that represents the typical characteristics of traditional rural Kyrgyz houses. Furthermore, the study demonstrates the potential for energy savings in rural Kyrgyz houses of 50–70%. However, local conditions prevent people from making improvements to all domestic energy efficiency parameters simultaneously. Therefore, the study developed a ‘sequential roadmap’ to reduce domestic space heating demand in different phases based on simulation studies. Existing low-income rural Kyrgyz habitations can use the presented roadmap to reduce domestic space heating demand sequentially to overcome financial barriers and, therefore, contribute to establishing sustainable buildings in Kyrgyzstan. These results may be partially replicated in other Central Asian rural communities depending on their location and building characteristics.

Keywords: Central Asia; earthen high-altitude houses; building construction; vernacular buildings; energy efficiency; cold climate (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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