Representatives of Armenia’s sectoral ministries and departments, specialized organizations and UNDP Climate Change Program as well as other interested parties discussed climate change caused construction norms’ revisions in Armenia.

As a result of climate change in recent decades, there was a need to revise the calculations of climatic parameters used in the norms of the "Construction Climatology" AST II-7.01-2011. The last three warmest years in Armenia were observed in 2010, 2018 and 2021. The increase in temperature occurs more rapidly during summer season, which is expressed by a significant increase in the frequency of heat waves and intense heat. The absolute maximum temperature in Armenia, 43.7°C, was observed on July 31, 2011 in Meghri, and the summers of 2017-18 observed maximum air temperature of 42°C in Ararat Valley.

Forecasts of climate models indicate a continuous temperature hike until the end of the 21st century. Current climate change trends suggest its necessary to recalculate the climatic parameters used for the design of heating, ventilation and air quality systems, since they were incompletely presented in the "Construction Climatology" AST II-7.01-2011.

First edition of the revised "Construction Climatology" norms developed by Environment Ministry’s “Hydrometeorology and Monitoring Center” State Non-Commercial Organization (SNCO) includes new proposals and approaches to address climate change required changes in buildings.

"Construction Climatology" norms were revised within the framework of the UNDP-GCF "De-risking and Scaling-up Investment in Energy Efficient Building Retrofits" program.

Levon Azizyan, director of the “Hydrometeorology and Monitoring Center” SNCO, encouraged the participants to present their concerns and observations in order to have the most comprehensive revised "Construction Climatology" norms.

"Climatic changes that occurred in the last decade affected the climate parameters used in the current "Construction Climatology" norms, which are aimed at the construction of energy-efficient buildings and, as the ultimate goal, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions," Azizyan noted.

Artur Gevorgyan, head of the "Hydrometeorology and Monitoring Center" Climate Service, presented "The need to modernize the climatic parameters used in the building standards in Armenia in order to promote energy-efficient construction in the conditions of a climate warming" research and emphasized that since the 2000s, there have been exclusively warm years in Armenia.

"The rate of temperature hike in Armenia exceeds the rate of global climate warming 1.3 times, and the total amount of precipitation has decreased, that is, we are experiencing climate warming," Gevorgyan said.

UNDP Climate Change Program Coordinator Diana Harutyunyan emphasized the need for "Construction Climatology" norms adaption to the conditions of the climate warming and welcomed the work carried out by "Hydrometeorology and Monitoring Center".

Responding to the remarks of design companies about the necessity to align the related construction norms with the revised "Construction Climatology" norm in order to avoid misinterpretation, Harutyunyan noted that the UNDP-GCF project can provide technical assistance in case the Urban Development Committee prioritize the issue.

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