Seoul City to Transform 498 Aging Public Childcare Centers into Low-Carbon Buildings by 2026 with 96.8 Billion KRW Investment

Support for Insulation Reinforcement and HVAC Replacement to Improve Energy Performance of Facilities Used by Climate Change Vulnerable Groups

Joeun Childcare Center, Jongno-gu, Seoul

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 3rd that it is investing 96.8 billion KRW by 2026 to significantly improve the energy performance of 498 locations as part of its green remodeling project aimed at enhancing the energy efficiency of public daycare centers that are over 10 years old.

Seoul is focusing on improving the energy efficiency of public buildings used by climate-vulnerable groups, such as public daycare centers, to maximize the reduction effect in the building sector, which accounts for 69% of greenhouse gas emissions in the Seoul area, and to make the indoor environment of daycare centers more comfortable.

Since 2020, Seoul has been actively implementing the energy efficiency improvement project for public daycare centers. As of 2022, a total of 157 public daycare centers have been completed, and it is expected to save approximately 232 million KRW annually in electricity bills (reducing about 2,107,068 KWh per year).

Seoul plans to convert an additional 54 public daycare centers into low-carbon buildings by the end of this year. Next year, the goal is to convert 100 locations into low-carbon buildings through the green remodeling project. The city is securing energy self-sufficiency for public daycare center buildings through the public building green remodeling project, which replaces outdated facilities and applies eco-friendly design techniques to improve facility environments.

Among the recently completed public daycare centers, three locations?Gunja Daycare Center in Gwangjin-gu, Saemmul Daycare Center in Mapo-gu, and Joeun Daycare Center in Jongno-gu?each achieved more than a 30% improvement in energy performance. In particular, Gunja Daycare Center secured a building energy efficiency rating of 1+++, with an energy savings rate of 58.4%. Gwangjin-gu’s Gunja Daycare Center applied passive building technologies such as interior and exterior insulation and system windows, and replaced equipment with high-efficiency air conditioners and eco-friendly boilers, improving building energy efficiency rating to 1+++ and enhancing energy performance by 58%. This is expected to reduce energy costs by 9.12 million KRW annually and cut greenhouse gas emissions from 67.2 tCO2 to 28 tCO2, a reduction of 39.2 tCO2.

Mapo-gu’s Saemmul Daycare Center applied passive building technologies such as high airtightness PVC windows for both interior and exterior and replaced the boiler with a high-efficiency eco-friendly model, increasing energy performance by 31.7%. It is expected to save 2.12 million KRW annually in energy costs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from 25.9 tCO2 to 17.7 tCO2, a reduction of 8.2 tCO2.

Jongno-gu’s Joeun Daycare Center improved energy performance by 33.8% by applying passive building technologies such as high insulation and high airtightness exterior walls, first-grade airtight windows, and active systems including heat recovery ventilation and LED lighting installation. It is expected to save 2.38 million KRW annually in energy costs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from 28.7 tCO2 to 12.2 tCO2, a reduction of 16.6 tCO2.

Yoo Yeon-sik, head of the Seoul Climate and Environment Headquarters, said, “To create a city safe from the climate crisis, it is very important to convert buildings, which account for 69% of Seoul’s total greenhouse gas emissions, into low-carbon buildings.” He added, “By leading energy performance improvements in public sector buildings, we will do our best to accelerate the spread to the private sector so that vulnerable groups can enjoy a comfortable and healthy living environment.”

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