Residential Building Construction Techniques and the Potential for Energy Efficiency in Central Asia: Example from High-Altitude Rural Settlement in Kyrgyzstan
Building construction in rural Kyrgyzstan is heavily dominated by earthen buildings. Old and inappropriate residential building structures contribute significantly to high domestic space heating energy consumption. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the relevant building construction techniques.
However, the scant information on Kyrgyz building techniques, especially for high-altitude rural settlements, was the prime motivation to perform the presented study. The key objective of the study is to investigate residential building construction techniques in high altitude rural Kyrgyzstan, and this was to be achieved by house visits during field trips, literature review, and pilot interviews with local people.
The analysis enabled the detailed identification of individual building envelopes as well as predominant building materials to be recorded. Based on the assessment, a housing profile was created that represents the typical characteristics of traditional rural Kyrgyz houses.
Furthermore, the study demonstrates the potential for energy savings in rural Kyrgyz houses of 50–70%. However, local conditions prevent people from making improvements to all domestic energy efficiency parameters simultaneously.
Therefore, the study developed a ‘sequential roadmap’ to reduce domestic space heating demand in different phases based on simulation studies. Existing low-income rural Kyrgyz habitations can use the presented roadmap to reduce domestic space heating demand sequentially to overcome financial barriers and, therefore, contribute to establishing sustainable buildings in Kyrgyzstan.
These results may be partially replicated in other Central Asian rural communities depending on their location and building characteristics.
The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 reformed the five independent countries of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. Central Asia is a landlocked region with a total land area of 4 million km2 and a population of 70 million.
The geographically landlocked location is disadvantageous for the economic growth of Central Asia because of the limited transportation opportunities to interact with major world economic centres (i.e., Europe, Southeast Asia). This can be considered one of the key barriers to the expansion of economic activity. Because of the limited earning opportunities, almost half of the Central Asian population resides in rural areas where they rely directly on forestry, agricultural activities, and animal husbandry.
However, the energy-rich countries (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan) enjoy an influx of capital through their energy and industrial sectors because of the enormous resources of natural gas, oil, and coal. Hence, they have a chance to invest in modern infrastructure and better housing, especially in the capital cities and urban areas.
The rural areas of these countries are still under development. The withdrawal of Soviet support became critical, especially for the high-altitude mountainous counties (Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan). Their urban and populated regions focused on development through the expansion of economic activities after 1991.
However high-altitude rural communities are at an economic disadvantage because of their isolated location and lack of job opportunities. Hence, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan are considered low-income countries in the Central Asian context. Between 60 to 80% of domestic buildings in Central Asia (mostly situated in rural areas) were constructed with earthen materials such as adobe, mud, clay, and soil during the Soviet era.
Between 1950 and 1960, energy costs were low and residential buildings were constructed with very little consideration for energy efficiency. Since independence in 1991, residential construction has continued to follow the old approach from the Soviet era, with most rural homes continuing to be built with earthen materials.
Since half of the rural Central Asian population lives in such buildings, they contribute significantly to the high residential energy demand. Figure 1 shows the total final energy consumption by sector in Central Asian countries. It can be observed that residential buildings have substantially contributed to the total energy consumption framework, especially in Kyrgyzstan.
The rural areas of these countries are still under development. The withdrawal of Soviet support became critical, especially for the high-altitude mountainous counties (Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan). Their urban and populated regions focused on development through the expansion of economic activities after 1991.
However high-altitude rural communities are at an economic disadvantage because of their isolated location and lack of job opportunities. Hence, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan are considered low-income countries in the Central Asian context. Between 60 to 80% of domestic buildings in Central Asia (mostly situated in rural areas) were constructed with earthen materials such as adobe, mud, clay, and soil during the Soviet era.
Between 1950 and 1960, energy costs were low and residential buildings were constructed with very little consideration for energy efficiency. Since independence in 1991, residential construction has continued to follow the old approach from the Soviet era, with most rural homes continuing to be built with earthen materials. Since half of the rural Central Asian population lives in such buildings, they contribute significantly to the high residential energy demand.
It can be observed that residential buildings have substantially contributed to the total energy consumption framework, especially in Kyrgyzstan. Total final energy consumption by sectors in Central Asia in 2018 (data according to). Because of their geographical location, most of the central Asian countries experience a cold climate with a heating period duration of between six and nine months.
In this context, the age of domestic buildings and their low thermal efficiency aggravate residential energy consumption, especially for domestic space heating. Of the five Central Asian countries, besides having the highest residential energy consumption, Kyrgyzstan faces a major housing concern.
The mountainous characteristics of Kyrgyzstan mean that only 20% of the land is available for comfortable living. As a result, most of the building stock of Kyrgyzstan is concentrated in rural settlements or semi-urban clusters. Progressively, urban areas (such as the capital, Bishkek and its suburbs) have been developed because of the migration trend in recent years.