Energy efficiency measures and social composition in district-heated large housing estates of Budapest
Energy efficiency measures and social composition in district-heated large housing estates of Budapest

Summary/Abstract: In Hungary, ‘Panelprogram’ was the most prominent support schemefor renovating prefabricated large housing estate buildings erected in the socialist era. Despite the perceptible results, a considerable share of these buildingsremains without thermal insulation. The study explores whether there is a relationship between the social composition of district-heated large housing estatesin Budapest and the occurrence and complexity of energy renovation projectsimplemented in their buildings. It also seeks to understand the nature of theserelationships and identify which aspects of social composition and renovationactivities are linked. The analysis utilises quantitative data by combining physicalattributes of buildings with census-derived socio-demographic indicators andemploys correlation analysis to address the research questions. The study revealsthat window replacement is less common where municipally owned flats areprevalent, while longer residence positively influences renovations. The resultsindicate that lower socioeconomic status of new residents moved in between 2000and 2009 had a negative impact on certain building-level refurbishments. Despitethe significant findings, the relationships identified are not always straightforward. This may be attributed to the highly complex decision-making processeswithin large housing estate buildings, where local or institutional factors maypartially override the influence of the variables examined.

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