Improving Living Conditions of Public Rental Housing Through Green Remodeling

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] The government will proactively apply green remodeling, one of the core tasks of the Green New Deal, to public rental housing.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) announced on the 3rd that they officially started the green remodeling project for aging public rental housing on the 31st of last month.

Green remodeling of aging public rental housing is a project to improve energy efficiency and enhance the living environment for vulnerable groups in permanent rental housing and purchased rental housing that have been completed for more than 15 years. This year, a total of 10,300 units are planned, combining 10,000 purchased rental units and 300 permanent rental units.

Among the permanent rental housing, there are a total of 300 units in 8 locations: Gunsan Naun 4, Iksan Busong 1, Gwangju Hanam 1, Gwangju Gakhwa 1, Daejeon Panam 4, Daejeon Dunsan 1 and 3, and Jecheon Haso 4. These were decided considering housing aging, demand conditions, and the possibility of rapid execution. The Ministry of Land plans to start construction at all project sites by the 5th, beginning with the groundbreaking of Daejeon Dunsan 3 on the 31st of last month.

For permanent rental housing, energy performance enhancement work such as installing high-efficiency insulation materials, high-performance windows, and water-saving faucets will be carried out, along with the installation of eco-friendly energy production facilities such as solar panels and the use of eco-friendly materials. Additionally, some projects will include unit integration work by demolishing non-load-bearing walls to remodel two adjacent small-sized units into one unit.

Conceptual Diagram of Green Remodeling Construction Details for Permanent Rental Housing (Provided by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport)

Purchased rental housing, which involves buying multi-family and multi-unit houses in urban areas for rental, has completed regional allocation of 10,000 units focusing on severely aged houses that have been completed for more than 25 years. The project started on the 31st of last month with 10 purchased rental housing sites in the Seoul and Gyeonggi areas.

For purchased rental housing, work to improve energy performance includes replacing high-efficiency boilers, LED lighting, and water-saving facilities within units. Customized work such as replacing internal and external insulation materials and installing solar power generation facilities will also be carried out depending on the conditions of each complex. Additionally, to improve residents' living environment, safety facilities such as CCTV performance upgrades and video phone replacements will be installed.

The government expects that through this green remodeling, replacing high-performance insulation materials, windows, and LED lighting will reduce energy consumption by more than 30% based on the Daejeon Dunsan 3 district, contributing to reducing residents' utility bills.

Kim Jeong-hee, Director of Housing Welfare Policy at the Ministry of Land, said, "Reflecting the results of this year's projects, we will establish a standard project model and present project guidelines to lay the foundation for expanding the project. From next year, we will actively expand the project so that more public rental housing residents can enjoy energy welfare."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.