Energy Performance Aspects of Residential Buildings in Latvia

Abstract

Abstract Measures on increasing energy efficiency is a way for ensuring sustainable energy supply, reducing emission of gases causing the greenhouse effect, improving safety of energy supply, decreasing dependence on import of energy and promoting the EU competitiveness. Improvement of energy performance of buildings as a direction of activities is provided in national policy planning documents of major importance such as the National Energy and Climate Plan for 2021–2030 and the Strategy of Latvia for the Achievement of Climate Neutrality by 2050. Residential buildings form a considerable part of the total Latvian housing stock – 27 % according to the number of buildings and 44 % according to their area. Therefore, the increase of energy performance of residential buildings is very significant for achieving the national energy saving targets, i.e. a cumulative savings of final energy consumption of about 6 PJ by 2030. The research analyses the sector of residential buildings, their statistical data, the energy consumption and requirements of the energy performance standards. To characterise this sector more comprehensively, information has been evaluated on energy performance certificates of residential buildings issued during the period from 2016 to 2021, allowing the authors to make general conclusions on the energy performance level of residential buildings and to provide proposals for increasing their energy efficiency.