THE THIRD e-SAFE LOCAL PILOT IS A RESIDENTIAL BUILDING IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF BUCHAREST, WITH LOCAL PARTNER AMCCRS (ADMINISTRAȚIA MUNICIPALĂ PENTRU CONSOLIDAREA CLĂDIRILOR CU RISC SEISMIC). THE END USERS ARE THE FAMILIES LIVING IN THE BUILDING.
The Bucharest pilot building is a residential five-storey building, located in the 5th district of Bucharest. With a surface of 1872m2, it is composed of 20 residential units. Since its construction, the building has never undergone renovation works, despite its low energy performance and building features: the structure is made out of reinforced concrete, with solid bricks exterior walls, and single glaze PVC windows. The building has a central light well, creating an inner area, over which the apartments, overlook each other through narrow and irregular openings.
To make the most of the outdoor space, residents has spontaneously built small attachments. These private micro-areas, allowing a small extension of the minimum space of the dwellings inside, shows the need for inhabitants to acquire a greater living area, used to carry out everyday life housing chores: drying clothes, placing the green, and storing objects.
e-SAFE partners are working hand in hand with local partner AMCCRS (Administrația Municipală pentru Consolidarea Clădirilor cu Risc Seismic) and the residents to create a renovation plan using e-SAFE innovations, in particular e-EXOS.
Co-design process in Bucharest: interview with Venera Pavone, UNICT
e-SAFE partner Venera Pavone from UNICT is leading the co-design process in the two pilots in Timisoara and Bucharest. Last year, she organised a series of co-design workshops with students and teachers of Sports Banatul Highschool in Timisoara, the other e-SAFE pilot. The outcomes of this process was unveiled during a public event in March 2023. This year, she set foot in Bucharest, to meet with the residents of a multi-family apartment building, and to discuss renovation plans that will make the building more energy efficient and seismic-proof.
Can you briefly explain the specificity of the pilot building in Bucharest within the e-SAFE project?
The Bucharest pilot is a multi-storey building located in Sector 5, a peripherical area of the city. The co-design process involved the building residents and officials from AMCCRS, the local Municipal Administration for the Consolidation of Buildings at Seismic Risk that applied for the building as virtual pilot. The context and the type of building are very similar to the Catania pilot.
How are you involving the residents during the decision-making process?
Residents are integral stakeholders in the decision-making process. We engage them in different ways, such as focus groups and community meetings. During the meetings, the facilitators used physical and digital models of the building to assist participants in making informed decisions. Their input helps shape key decisions regarding the design and implementation of energy-saving measures, ensuring that....
Residents Embrace e-SAFE Renovation Solutions for Enhanced Seismic Safety and Outdoor Living Spaces
On March 12th, 2024, UNICT and BPIE met with the team at AMCCRS, as well as with the residents in the afternoon. While the meeting with AMCCRS was dedicated to making sure that the e-SAFE innovations were compliant with Romanian legal requirements, e-SAFE partners also presented the different solutions to the residents:
- Basic solution: Only the e-EXOS elements are distributed along the perimeter of the building (no outdoor space);
- Minimum outdoor space solution: The e-EXOS elements are distributed along the building, adding window steel frames to meet the daily needs of residents: drying clothes, placing the green, and storing objects.
- Maximum outdoor space solution: The application of the e-EXOS system allows the creation of private spaces that extend on the main fronts, offering residents the opportunity to conduct their daily lives outside. The inner space can be expanded through a series of metal balconies.
- A combination of all solutions, taking into account the needs of all residents.
Residents were enthusiastic about making the most of the outdoor space with balconies and asked a lot of questions about the renvoation process, in terms of number of interventions, timeline etc.
To conclude, both the AMCCRS and the residents were positive about the process, emphasising the innovation brought by the e-SAFE project. Residents were also very engaged, seeing this as an opportunity to also improve their comfort and well-being, in addition to increased seismic safety and energy efficiency. This is only the first step and e-SAFE partners will now collaborate with all parties to successfully implement the renovation plan.
The first renderings presented to the residents of the pilot building in Bucharest
The minimum outdoor solution, frontal and side view:
The combined outdoor solution, frontal and side view:
