Thermal rehabilitation of residential buildings or efficiency vs effectiveness in envelope of existing buildings

Abstract

"Starting from the definition of the terms, efficiency generally refers to the management of resources in order to achieve a goal, while effectiveness represents the ability / effective quantification of the achievement of a goal. In other words, efficiency is a process while effectiveness is an outcome. Having said that, the question rises (rhetorical, after all): was the process of thermal rehabilitation of the residential building stock efficient? Was it effective? Efficient it probably was: with the resources at the disposal of the town halls, with funds attracted and with the contribution of owners' associations (when the situation demanded their participation), a huge number of residential buildings were covered in thermal-insulating blankets. Was the expected result achieved? In other words, was it effective? The question may have many answers, considering the angles, the nuances and perspectives from where the intervention is evaluated, from the very basis of the approach – the hypothesis and the concept - to the architecture of the buildings and their relationship with the urban space of which they are a part. The paper proposes a critical analysis of the results of the approach to the thermal “wrapping” of residential buildings in Romania as well as in the European research and practice."