Recent advances in energy codes in Russia and Kazakhstan. Harmonization of codes with European standards

A ten-year struggle in Russia over a new generation of building energy codes has recently culminated in the passage of a sweeping new federal energy code. This federal code employs approaches and locks in energy-performance targets of innovative regional codes adopted since the late 1990s. based on a model code developed by the authors of this paper. These new codes are causing a major shift in the Russian building sector – a transformation without parallel in Russia`s other industrial sectors – toward increased energy efficiency. The Russian market has undergone fundamental transformation toward production, sale, and use of energy-efficient building materials and products, and the use of new energy-efficient technologies. Kazakhstan has also started down the path blazed by Russia regarding energy codes. The proposed article will discuss important recent developments in Russian and Kazakhstan building energy codes, including setting of energy-efficiency criteria and targets for buildings, and development of rating systems and new federal and regional codes embodying these targets. We also discuss oversight over the quality of design and construction, and monitoring of energy performance of buildings during operation. We close by discussing next steps in code development and implementation in both countries, and opportunities for further energy efficiency.