On September 12, in the Uygur village of Tashkent region’s Urtachirchik district, a training took place on energy-efficient construction technologies. This event was organized by the ‘Market Transformation for Sustainable Rural Housing in Uzbekistan’ project run by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Ministry of Construction of the Republic of Uzbekistan. 

Energy-efficient building practices are not complex, and can utilize affordable materials. At the Uygur village and other project pilot sites throughout Uzbekistan, insulation materials such as Styrofoam and basalt mats with a 160 kg/m³ density are mounted on exterior walls, and are then covered with plaster or other facing materials. This entire approach reduces heat loss by 30%.  

Such construction methods make it possible to maintain a stable temperature inside homes, thereby creating comfortable living spaces. Combined with rooftop photovoltaic stations, this enhanced insulation reduces gas and electricity expenses, which offsets the required minimal increase in construction costs.

During the practical workshop on September 12, UNDP national consultant Uchkunbek Farmonov demonstrated these modern energy-efficient technologies and materials on an active construction site. Around 20 representatives of the district’s construction organizations, along with representatives of the national rural housing construction agency Qishloq Qurilish, Invest and members of the mahalla committee, attended the training and had their questions answered during a master class.

“Practical seminars and trainings of this kind allow regional construction organizations to become more familiar with green technologies, which they can apply more widely in constructing buildings and structures within the district and region,” said Akbarjon Sharapov, head of the Toshkent Viloyat Mahsus Montaj Kurilish contracting organization.

“Here in the Uygur village our project has constructed four multi-story residential buildings using energy-efficient technologies. These are not the first buildings of this type that we have constructed, as we have already built ten such houses this year.”

The construction of such residential buildings is carried out according to a decree of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, issued in November 2018, stating that all housing built under the state programme for affordable rural housing must be energy-efficient. 

The ‘Market Transformation for Sustainable Rural Housing in Uzbekistan’ project works to enrich and improve activities of construction companies engaged in building green homes, by conducting practical trainings based on the knowledge of leading experts.