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According to official fire statistics, chimney fires account for almost 20% of all fires that occur in family residential buildings every year in the Balkan region. The high temperature from the chimneys may have an influence on fire spreading to the wooden girders. The objective of the study was to gather and analyse data on timber structure fire incidents occurring in family residential buildings in lowland rural settlements in Serbia (2010-2014) and a mountain settlement in Montenegro (2007-2013) in order to determine the extent to which existing data can be used in fire risk assessment. Additionally, the chimney-timber floor heat transfer mechanism was investigated, namely, the time dependent temperature distribution in the cross-section of few types of mostly used chimneys and floor structures were analysed. This research illustrates how the lack of chimney maintenance and social vulnerability of the settlements (aged rural population with low incomes, living in many cases alone in old houses in areas with limited access to distance heating systems or piped gas) could influence the fire risk in timber structures in rural lowland and mountain areas. It is shown that significant differences exist with respect to fire causation over time and the type of wooden structural elements – due to different temperature distribution in the cross-sections of the floor structure, both in lowland and mountain settlements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the thermal properties of existing residential buildings built in industrial manner in Novi Sad, Serbia, from 1960 to 1990 based on building typology. Each of three analyzed building types has its characteristic façade, with thermal performances divided into periods according to the development of domestic thermal protection building codes. The necessary layer of subsequent insulation is determined by calculations in order to comply with European standards, also applied in Serbia from 2012. The proposed method of periodization simplifies the process of thermal performance assessment and it was checked through the case studies. Evaluation of energy consumption rationalization has been done through comparative analysis of energy losses. Based on the most common energy rehabilitation measures applied in Serbia, it was estimated that it was possible to reduce the energy losses in heating up to 60%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]