To: English teacherFrom: Lukas KvietkauskasSubject: The Housing Advisory AgencyDate: 17th January,2011

1. IntroductionThe purpose of this report is to survey the current situation of the heating efficiency and energy use in apartments.

2. The Housing Advisory Company

This project is aimed to raise awareness and capacity among apartment owners , municipalities, home owner associations, and housing maintenance companies about techniques for improving the heating efficiency and energy use in apartments .

3. Implementation

The Housing Advisory Agency focused its activities in the six largest cities in Lithuania. In each city, it organized seminars and training sessions for apartment owners and home owner associations , municipalities , and housing maintenance companies on energy management techniques.

4. TechnologyThe educational programmes and the energy management software address heat energy use efficiency.They outline ways to measure heating energy use and suggest ways to improve it. Heat lost through transmission, poor wall, roof and floor insulation, ventilation shafts, windows and inefficient water heating can be measured through this software. The software requests certain information about building construction and materials and equipment used, and then uses formulas to calculate heat usage and preparing plans for future heating seasons.The program is written in Excel, and can be used to estimate potential savings from certain investments. It also generates certificates for apartment buildings to indicate their degree of energy efficiency.

5. BeneficiariesThis project benefits residents of multi-apartment buildings in Lithuania,helping them to save money on their energy bills and also enjoy improved temperature control in their homes. In addition, municipalities are beneficiaries,since they are involved in energy management for some apartment buildings, and are also responsible for subsidizing the energy bills of those families who cannot afford to pay them.

6. ConclusionThe Housing Advisory Agency has been successful in its support for homeowner associations,which are critical to the implementation of energy management techniques in

many apartment buildings.The project has resulted in an increased number of homeowner associations,and the Housing Advisory Agency intends to monitor the results of the energy management techniques that they implement. The Housing Advisory Agency is now seeking to scale up its efforts from the six largest cities to 20 other smaller Lithuanian cities.