Beodom shares here its experience in doing legal, quality, low-energy apartment buildings in Belgrade.
The new law on planning and construction in Serbia
| 14 February 2010 - Comments (0) | Procedures |
Last August, the New Law on Planning and Construction was adopted by the Parliament of Serbia. It came into force on the 11th of September 2009. This New Law redefines most of the rules applying to land onwership, construction and legalization. In this first article, we present an overview of the changes. We will detail specific aspects in further articles and updates of existing ones.
The situation of urban construction land in Serbia
| 14 February 2010 - Comments (0) | Procedures |
Urban construction land in Serbia went though many changes in the past 60 years. It was nationalized, partially given back and last, privatized again. That last step was made possible by the New Law on Planning and Construction adopted in August 2009 by the Parliament of Serbia.
This article is an update of a previous one written before this new Law.
Essential online tools to explore Belgrade's detailed regulation plans
| 07 February 2010 - Comments (0) | Procedures |
We updated this article to follow the development of the online tools offered be the Land Development Public Agency (Beoland) and the Institute of Urbanism (Urbel). The two institutions give access to web based, interactive maps to explore available detailed regulation plans. These 2 essential tools are incredibly useful in giving the right information on a given plot of land.
Serbia is on the path to energy efficiency and Germany is here to help
| 10 November 2009 - Comments (0) | Reflections |
Kuće Beodom took part in the conference on Serbian-German Dialogue on Energy Efficiency last monday. The conference was opened by the German Ambassador and 2 ministers from the Serbian goverment. It focused on energy efficiency through numerous projects and measures being implemented with technical and financial support from Germany.
Functioning and performance of the geothermal system in Amadeo
| 08 November 2009 - Comments (1) | Construction |
In the previous article we detailled the installation of the geothermal system. We now look at its functioning and performance, showing that almost 80% of the geothermal heat pump energy output, comes from the ground for free. That is saving money and reducing CO2 emissions. Vaillant engineer, Saša Tasić, gives us a complete walkthrough.
Installation of the geothermal heat pump and buffer in Amadeo
| 04 November 2009 - Comments (0) | Construction |
We covered so far, the installation of the vertical geothermal probes and the connection of the probes to the geothermal heat pump. In this article, we look at the installation of the pump as a complete system. We look at the filling of the probes, the insulation of the pipes and the various connections to the different sub-systems.
Conference on Sustainable Development Strategy with Božidar Đelić
| 21 October 2009 - Comments (0) | Reflections |
Kuće Beodom was invited at the conference on Sustainable Development Strategy of Serbia and of the Netherlands. It was organized by the cabinet of Deputy Prime Minister, Ministry of Science and Technological Development, Mr Božidar Đelić, who came in person to open the conference. The conference focused on energy efficiency in housing and buildings. Here is a short report.
Connection of the geothermal heat pump with the vertical probes
| 18 September 2009 - Comments (0) | Construction |
In a previous article, we explained the drilling of the boreholes and the installation of the vertical geothermal probes. We now look at the connection, from the probes, to the geothermal heat pump located in the service room inside the building. The first step is to extend each probe and install that extension underground to reach to point where to enter the building.
Building with POROTHERM - visual guide - lintels
| 25 May 2009 - Comments (0) | Construction |
In this last article of our POROTHERM building visual guide, we focus on doors and windows lintels, and we look at cerclage elements that are used as a cast and thermal break around slabs. Lintels for Windows with integrated shutters are the most delicate to realize as we will describe in this article.
Making of Baumit facade on POROTHERM, a visual guide
| 08 May 2009 - Comments (1) | Construction |
In this article, we look at the making of the facade on top of the monolitic wall system made of large clay blocks. Although it would be possible to use a thin facade system, the use of a thermal facade improves the thermal characteristic of the wall and even out the imperfection of the masonry. We used Baumit multilayers system that produces an excellent long lasting result.
SEEBBE 2009: Rehau, Kombo, Xella, Wienerberger, Zorka Opeka
| 25 April 2009 - Comments (0) | Construction |
Spring is finally here in Belgrade and together with it came the time of the traditional building fair event, the Sajam Gradjevine 2009. As we are readying to start building Amadeo II, it was the perfect occasion to see what is up in the field. Experience from Amadeo allows us to select what has worked best and also to search for improvements. Here is an summary of few things of interest.
Geothermal drilling and installation of geothermal probes, a visual guide
| 25 October 2008 - Comments (2) | Construction |
Last July, we installed the first geothermal probe of the geothermal heating and cooling system of Amadeo. We have now resumed this installation and installed 2 more Rehau Raugeo probes. In this visual guide, we document the complete installation process from drilling to filling the borehole with bentonite.
Zorka Opeka KLIMABLOC: a promising new competitor to POROTHERM
| 03 October 2008 - Comments (0) | Construction |
Zorka Opeka, already famous in Serbia for facing bricks and other fired clay products, launched a new line of products called KLIMABLOC. These new blocks are aimed to build walls which do not need any additional thermal insulation material, like Wienerberger POROTHERM. KLIMABLOC is Austrian design and technology and has everything to shake up the Serbian market.
Building with POROTHERM - visual guide - corners
| 27 September 2008 - Comments (3) | Construction |
In this second article of our visual guide on POROTHERM, we look at vertical reinforcements and corners. Those are the least obvious aspects of building with POROTHERM. It is important to deal with them properly to avoid the creation of thermal bridges that could ruin the performance of the walls.
Building with POROTHERM - visual guide - basics
| 16 September 2008 - Comments (0) | Construction |
As we progress the construction of our project Amadeo with POROTHERM, we have more experience to share with this construction system. It is easy to use and the resulting quality is far above what can be achieve with standard gitter blocks. In this first article, we look at the basic aspects of building with POROTHERM.
What is a low-energy construction and how is it defined?
| 01 July 2008 - Comments (1) | Construction |
The concept of low-energy is widely used for houses and buildings in many different ways. What does it means exactly and how is it defined? What energy is taken into account? What is primary and electric energy? In this article, we answer those questions and we explain further how is low-energy normalized and regulated across Europe.
SEEBBE 2008/4: comparative look at monolithic wall systems
| 17 June 2008 - Comments (2) | Construction |
In this last article on the 34th Belgrade International Building Trade Fair, we look at the monolithic external wall solutions (wall system without additional thermal insulation). Wienerberger, Nexe and Opeka presented their line of products made of clay, while Xella hammered its YTONG-Termoblok massive marketing effort into the fair.
Peak oil, the energy crisis is here and it will last
| 01 June 2008 - Comments (1) | Reflections |
If the price of oil is any indicator, it is clear that we are at the begining of an energy crisis. But this one, unlike any other we had in the past, is profound, structural and will last for as long as our dependance on fossil energy lasts. We have reached or are just about to reach the maximum oil production. From there on, it is a downward slope coupled with an increasing demand. Let's explore what this means for all of us.
SEEBBE 2008/3: waterproofing, pipes insulation and cork
| 20 May 2008 - Comments (0) | Construction |
We made some interesting new contacts during the 34th Belgrade International Building Trade Fair last month. In this part, we talk about different waterproofing solutions for all parts of a building (Index, Vandex, Sika). We also look at solutions for thermal and sound insulation of pipes (Armacell, Izoterm, Rehau). Last, we visit Infomarket for their cork flooring and industrial cork boards.
SEEBBE 2008/2: windows, ventilation and insect screens
| 05 May 2008 - Comments (0) | Construction |
In this part of the report from the 34th Belgrade International Building Trade Fair, we focus on doors, windows and ventilation. We visited Alphacan, the maker of the PVC profiles we use, Toplica Drvo, the producer of windows and doors we use and Duco for the ventilation solution. We also look at insect screens.
SEEBBE 2008/1: COPA, Schöck, Schiedel and Knauf Insulation
| 22 April 2008 - Comments (0) | Construction |
We had plenty of things and people to see at this 34th Belgrade International Building Trade Fair. All of our partners were there. We also looked for novelty. In this first report, we look at the stands of COPA (roof solution and where the scale model of our project was displayed), Schöck (thermal break for balcony), Schiedel (chimney) and Knauf Insulation (rock wool).
Taking care of the air you breathe or all about ventilation
| 05 April 2008 - Comments (0) | Construction |
Ventilation is all about the quality of the air we breath when we are indoor. Constructions being increasingly airtight, the only way to get the fresh air we need is from a ventilation system. Of course, it is always possible to open windows but they cannot ensure a constant supply of fresh air. This article explain why we need ventilation, and look into the current solutions on the market.
A visit to Wienerberger POROTHERM brick plant in Karlovac, Croatia
| 28 March 2008 - Comments (0) | Construction |
We just had the priviledge to visit the production facility of Wienerberger in Karlovac, Croatia. The trip was organized for us by Wienerberger Serbia. Until Wienerberger starts production in the brick plant they bought in Mali Idjos in Serbia, all POROTHERM blocks for Serbia are made in Karlovac and imported from Croatia. Here is a small trip report of what we saw there.
What's wrong with residential buildings in Belgrade: wall thermal insulation
| 04 March 2008 - Comments (0) | Construction |
It is by looking at the actual quality of the building stock in Belgrade that you come to appreciate what means genuine construction quality. In this article, we look at what investors are doing when it comes to walls thermal insulation of new buildings in attractive locations. The examples we are showing here are randomly taken. They represent what you are most likely to find by looking around in Belgrade.
Fighting thermal bridges or how to make better buildings
| 05 February 2008 - Comments (1) | Construction |
One of the key aspect of making low-energy buildings is the care given to the thermal insulation. That means using the right materials in the right thickness to provide the right thermal characteristics. But that alone is not enough. It also means not to leave any hole in the thermal insulation where heat would flow and defeat the purpose of the thermal insulation. Fighting those thermal bridges is essential in making excellent quality low-energy buildings.
It is an aspect that is always overlooked in Serbia.
