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This paper responds to the necessity for the creation of a unified disaster damage and loss assessment method for residential and non-residential buildings in Georgia. The objective of this study is to elaborate on an improved standardized formula for damage assessment in the residential and non-residential sector. The formula provides additional clarity to the various worldwide methodologies and frameworks presently used in the damage assessment of buildings and structures. The paper itself provides four key findings: 1) that each assessment approach and the amount of damage and loss calculated for the residential sector are based on various subjective opinions (non-systematic/standardized damage assessment approaches), derived from the best knowledge from commissions created at the municipal level; 2) a review of global methodologies and frameworks revealed a clear gap in the provision of formulas for calculating economic losses in the residential and non-residential sector; 3) the need for a comprehensive explanation of the unit cost of construction in the UNISDR methodology was identified; and 4) the necessity to collect detailed and specific data for the damage and loss calculation, alongside a requirement for frequent renewals of the integrated database (associated with the need for additional resources) – without which it often leads many countries, including Georgia, to use ineffective methodologies (e.g., HAZUS). Therefore, the study offers a new and original approach for assessing damaged buildings and provides an alternative method to fill the gap in the damage assessment of particular types of buildings and structures. Moreover, the paper proposes a building damage assessment formula that does not require specific databases to be frequently updated or integrated within the GIS system.
Keywords: Disaster Assessment, Residential and Non-residential Sector, Disaster Resilience, Applied Approach, Damage and Loss, Georgia

Introduction/purpose: Safety in high residential buildings presents a very important and always actual task. In case of some unforeseen and dangerous occurrences, their residents must be evacuated. Fire, earthquakes, and terrorism are only some of such situations. The speed of evacuation from high residential buildings depends on many different factors. A particularly difficult and complex evacuation task concerns buildings without fire escape stairs. Methods: The modeling method was used in this paper. Based on a real object - a residential building, an appropriate simulation model was realized in appropriate simulation software. Results: The results of this paper have shown that, out of four scenarios, the fastest evacuation was for the evacuation speed of 1.75 m/s. The first two scenarios did not report any jams, unlike the third and fourth scenario; in the third scenario, the occupants' speeds were 0.75 m/s and 1.25 m/s while in the fourth scenario, the simulated occupants' speeds were from 0.75 m/s to 1.75 m/s. Conclusion:The usage of appropriate simulation software enables fast, precise, safe and cheap calculation of evacuation times and it can significantly improve evacuation procedures and evacuation strategies.

The Republic of Belarus relies heavily on natural gas imports to meet domestic energy demand. Energy efficiency (EE) investments can significantly reduce budget outlays in the long-term while also improving the physical assets and quality of energy services. Investments in thermal retrofits of public and residential buildings can result in substantial economic benefits. Recognizing the substantial energy savings potential in the buildings sector, the Government of the Republic of Belarus (GoB) has introduced policies and programs to promote the development of more energy efficient buildings, and the retrofitting of old buildings. The integrated program for design, construction, and renovation of energy-efficient housing in the Republic of Belarus for 2009-2010 and until 2020 sets a national target to reduce specific heat consumption in existing residential buildings by 60 kWh per

Sustainability issues in residential buildings in many cities of the world and the search for factors that influence the level of maintenance of residential buildings, with appropriate measures to assist in the solutions to the problems of building maintenance has been an issue of concern, most especially to the house designers and developers in Niger State, Nigeria. This paper therefore planned to determine factors that influence the level of maintenance of residential buildings' standards. The research method employed was descriptive and inferential survey. The data collected were subjected to uni-variate analysis and multi-variate analysis, using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The study found among others that factors that influence the level of maintenance of residential buildings standards includes, (i) building's state of repair, (ii) building type and (iii) Owners/Occupiers highest level of education. The paper concludes that for any meaningful approach to maintainability of residential buildings in view of adequate provision of descent accommodation for the populace, the state Government need to embark on public enlightenment campaign for the residential buildings' owners/occupants on the need for residential buildings and building premises maintenance and the implication for failure to maintain buildings and buildings' premises regularly. Keywords: Appraisal, building standards, maintenance, residential building, sustainability.

As the residential buildings sector accounts for around 30 percent of the final energy demand in Germany, this sector is increasingly becoming the focus of public attention with regard to climate change. In this book, decisions on energy consumption by private households are examined. The analyses are based on several empirical methods. The results show that the road to more sustainable energy consumption in residential buildings is not hampered by a lack of will on behalf of the consumers. However one should be realistic that there are many instances where improving thermal institution involves additional economic costs for individual households.

The green building concept is becoming more and more popular these days because these are considered as environment friendly building. The government is taking appropriate steps in implementation of green building concepts by providing increase in Floor area ratio. They are making action plan on climate change on sustainable habitats by proposing smart city concepts. Further in addition to that BEE is putting their effort on appliance labelling programme which helps in appraisal and clearance of large construction projects. Several corporate organizations, institutions and construction companies are now practising green building concept in the construction. There are many green building rating systems in place. GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment) and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environment Design ) was developed in response to this need. The GRIHA is considered as Indian National Rating System which have been finalised after incorporating various modifications suggested by a group of architects and experts. United States Green Building Council administered (LEED) as the leading green building rating system which is ranked first among other systems. LEED is contributing heavily in converting the built environment towards sustainable development. The buildings which come under GRIHA are those which are having land area more than 2,500 Sqm. (except for industrial complexes). These buildings can undergo this certification programme. The GRIHA doesn't cover buildings having area less than 2500 sqm so the present study focuses on providing a rating system for small residential buildings. By adopting this rating system more and more buildings may be covered for sustainable development. It gives a boost to nearby surroundings.

The green building concept is becoming more and more popular these days because these are considered as environment friendly building. The government is taking appropriate steps in implementation of green building concepts by providing increase in Floor area ratio. They are making action plan on climate change on sustainable habitats by proposing smart city concepts. Further in addition to that BEE is putting their effort on appliance labelling programme which helps in appraisal and clearance of large construction projects. Several corporate organizations, institutions and construction companies are now practising green building concept in the construction. There are many green building rating systems in place. GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment) and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environment Design ) was developed in response to this need. The GRIHA is considered as Indian National Rating System which have been finalised after incorporating various modifications suggested by a group of architects and experts. United States Green Building Council administered (LEED) as the leading green building rating system which is ranked first among other systems. LEED is contributing heavily in converting the built environment towards sustainable development. The buildings which come under GRIHA are those which are having land area more than 2,500 Sqm. (except for industrial complexes). These buildings can undergo this certification programme. The GRIHA doesn't cover buildings having area less than 2500 sqm so the present study focuses on providing a rating system for small residential buildings. By adopting this rating system more and more buildings may be covered for sustainable development. It gives a boost to nearby surroundings.

In average, man spends about 90% of the time inside enclosed spaces, in both residential and office buildings, exposed to consistently higher concentrations of air pollutants than outdoors, which has led to the increased rate of allergies and asthma incidences. In the last decade, public and governmental awareness on indoor air quality (IAQ) has been growing. Portugal implemented the National Building Energy and Indoor Air Quality Certification System in 2006 which imposes periodic IAQ audits for office buildings. However, in residential buildings, the only normative imposition related to IAQ is the obligation of a minimum air change rate of 0.6 h-1. The number of potential pollutants inside residential buildings is significant, and even low concentration levels can cause health problems if combined effects are considered. Additionally, the inhabitants' behaviour can have a significant impact on IAQ. Therefore, the assessment of IQA is very important. This paper presents the application of the IAQ audit methodology, defined by the Portuguese legislation for office buildings, to residential buildings. The concentration of suspended particles, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, ozone, formaldehyde and total volatile organic compounds were measured as well as the air change rate. A standard questionnaire was delivered to the inhabitants to also obtain a subjective assessment of the IAQ. The goal of this study was to verify the IAQ conditions inside the Portuguese residential buildings and to establish a comprehensive IAQ audit approach for residential buildings. The results gathered will also be used to identify the main problems of Portuguese residential building stock and to develop guidelines to improve IAQ in residential ...

For the implementation of real estate management, in accordance with the legislative framework of good practice and quality management, a system is required that helps the processes to be arranged according to their fundamental values, criteria and functions. The study sets residential property management elements and factors influencing them. The significance of the topic is set by the developing industry and the requirement for quality and sustainable management model that includes all interested parties – owners, lessees, tenants, users on the one side, housing managers on the other and the state, local government and non-governmental organisations on the third side. The development of this sector as a whole depends on the quality of residential housing management process

The environmental impacts deriving from pollution due to the high use of cooling and heating systems in buildings have made it necessary to study alternative methods of designing or upgrading existing buildings. In this work the concepts of bioclimatic architecture are discussed and possible technological solutions for energy saving in the construction sector are presented. The solutions proposed concern orientation, the shape of the building and the internal volumetric arrangement. Attention is paid to internal comfort and the problem of convective motions related to the cooling of homes. Other solutions referring to the use of bioclimatic diagrams to determine the maximum and minimum temperatures to be considered for bioclimatic design are also proposed.

The energy efficiency represents an international and multi-faceted phenomenon. It is especially important in the countries belonging to the Balkan's region of the Southeastern Europe (SE). The research problem addressed in this paper focuses on the improvements in the inherent energy inefficiency by the means of quality financing of investment arrangements. This paper utilizes detailed literature review of multi-faceted sources, journal articles, private and government publications. Furthermore, the obstacles to attracting viable sources of private financing shall also be researched and addressed. Semi- developed and still developing Balkan countries have been experiencing severe lack of diversified financial instruments. The financial risks, energy poverty and low incomes, lack of appropriate understanding of the market and the absence of the appropriate regulatory framework have been identified as the major obstacles to attracting viable private financing. There are several issues impacting the attraction of private financing arrangements. These barriers could be summed up as the lack of appropriate regulatory framework, deficiencies in the proper market understanding, inherent presence of energy poverty and low incomes, multitude of financial risks, lack of skilled human resources, the presence of the so-called split incentives and fragmentation issues in common decision-making process. The so-called multiple benefits approach (MBA) to energy efficiency investments tend to widen the energy efficiency perspectives beyond the traditional measures of reducing energy demand and lowering greenhouse gas emissions. This approach looks into multiple spheres by assessing multitude of different benefits to stakeholders. In conclusion, the big disparity in size and variety or financial supporting instruments between the EU members and non-member states must be addressed and reduced.