Seoul City Invests 119.6 Billion KRW in 'Green Remodeling' Project for Aging Senior Centers and Daycare Centers

Energy Performance Improvement at 517 Senior Centers and Daycare Centers
Enhancing Facility Environments for Climate-Vulnerable Groups through Insulation Reinforcement, HVAC Replacement, and Eco-Friendly Ventilation

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 8th that it will promote a green remodeling project to improve the energy efficiency of aging senior centers and public daycare centers. Over five years until 2025, a total of 119.6 billion KRW will be invested to significantly enhance the energy performance of 517 locations.

Green remodeling is a project that improves building energy efficiency by reinforcing high-performance insulation and windows, and installing high-efficiency boilers and eco-friendly ventilation systems. The goal is to maximize the reduction effect in the building sector, which accounts for an absolute 68.8% of greenhouse gas emissions in the Seoul area, while making the indoor environment of public buildings used by climate-vulnerable groups such as the elderly and infants more comfortable.

Since last year, Seoul has gradually started construction and has currently completed green remodeling for three senior centers and 51 daycare centers. Among them, the ‘Pyeonbaek Senior Center’ in Nowon-gu has been transformed into a zero-energy building with 100% energy self-sufficiency. The three senior centers, including Pyeonbaek Senior Center, are expected to save 14.45 million KRW annually in electricity bills (approximately 132,736 kWh per year) through green remodeling.

Pyeonbaek Senior Center

Seoul plans to complete green remodeling for an additional 12 senior centers and 75 daycare centers by the end of the year. Designs for nine senior centers are currently underway, aiming for completion by September next year. Senior centers are securing building energy self-sufficiency through the zero-energy transition project, which replaces aging facilities and applies eco-friendly design techniques to improve facility environments. Zero-Energy Buildings (ZEB) minimize energy loads by enhancing insulation and airtightness (passive), applying high-efficiency equipment (active), and minimizing energy demand through renewable energy production.

The three completed senior centers are Pyeonbaek Senior Center in Nowon-gu, Shinwoo Senior Center in Yeongdeungpo-gu, and Nambu Senior Center in Yeongdeungpo-gu, all of which have obtained building energy efficiency ratings of 1++ or higher. In particular, Pyeonbaek Senior Center secured a building energy efficiency rating of 1+++, with 100% energy self-sufficiency.

For daycare centers, the green remodeling project targets aging public daycare centers that are over 15 years old with poor ventilation performance. The project aims to improve the energy performance and indoor environment of daycare centers used by infants and young children who are vulnerable to external environments such as heatwaves, cold waves, and fine dust.

A representative case of daycare center green remodeling is Doseon Daycare Center in Dobong-gu, which completed green remodeling in August this year. This daycare center is an aging building constructed 31 years ago, where condensation occurred in winter and heating and cooling equipment frequently broke down, resulting in high energy consumption and poor indoor environment. Currently, the aging exterior wall insulation has been reinforced, windows replaced, and a high-efficiency heating and cooling system and eco-friendly boiler installed, making the indoor environment much more comfortable. Eco-friendly materials were used as it is a facility used by infants and young children.

Yoo Yeon-sik, Head of the Climate Environment Headquarters, said, “To achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, the green remodeling project to reduce energy consumption in buildings, which account for 68.8% of Seoul’s total greenhouse gas emissions, is very important. By actively promoting green remodeling projects in public sector buildings, we will promote expansion into the private sector and do our best to ensure that climate-vulnerable groups can enjoy a comfortable and healthy living environment.”

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