IC/019/21 - [Reannouncement] International Consultant on Passive House criteria incorporation into the building codes in Uzbekistan

Background

The UNDP/NCE and Government of Uzbekistan project on “Market Transformation for Sustainable Rural Housing in Uzbekistan” seeks to transform the rapidly growing rural housing sector in Uzbekistan towards a more sustainable and low-carbon development pathway by designing, piloting and scaling-up a green mortgage market mechanism, which will boost the demand for low-carbon housing among the Uzbek rural population thus reducing GHG emission. The project objective is to provide Uzbekistan’s rural population with improved, affordable and environmentally friendly living conditions.

The project consists of four inter-linked outcomes. The first and principal outcome is the establishment of the green mortgage scheme to incentivize and eventually scale-up the demand for low-carbon housing. This outcome will be supported and enabled by three complementary outcomes related to strengthening domestic supply chain and capacities for construction of low-carbon housing (Outcome 2), introducing policies and regulations for low-carbon housing and settlements (Outcome 3), and raising public awareness about benefits and advantages of low-carbon housing (Outcome 4).

The project aims to strengthen minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) for buildings, as well as to ensure their compliance. Thus, providing national building codes for housing construction in rural areas are feasible criteria for the achievement of beyond-minimum requirements. The most recent review of the standards along with the residential buildings codes was conducted by the Ministry of Construction of Uzbekistan in 2018-2019. The project provides required technical assistance and support to ensure that scheduled revision of the codes includes more mandatory energy use requirements in line with best international standards. The project also assists in the application of the EU Directives on energy consumption in buildings , to the extent that this is possible and appropriate.

In 2018, within this project, JSC "ToshuyjoyLITI" has revised three building codes (SNiPs) that entered into force in 2018 (KMK 2.01.04-2018 "Building thermal engineering", ??? 2.01.18-00 “Norms of energy consumption for heating, ventilation and air conditioning of buildings and structures”, ??? 2.04.16-96 “Solar hot water installation”), and two that entered into force in January 2019 (KMK 2.03.10 - 2019 "Rooftops and Roofs", KMK 2.03.13-19 "Floors"). Also, the project developed a wholly new building code (SNiP): SNK 2.04.15 - 20 "Photovoltaic Stations”, which was enacted in September 2020.

The project is now seeking an International Consultant to assist with incorporation of the internationally adopted criteria and requirements (https://passiv.de/en/02_informations/02_passive-house-requirements/02_passive-house-requirements.htm) into the existing building codes indicated above and/or guide the national experts on development of  a building code on passive house.

Under the overall supervision of the Project Manager, the International Consultant will be responsible for providing the team of national experts with Passive House criteria through fulfilling the following tasks.

Duties and Responsibilities

Activity 1: Preliminary analysis and planning

• Consider the Uzbekistan’s climatic condition and environment and develop proposal on how the Passive House requirements related to a) Space Heating Energy Demand/Space Cooling Energy Demand; b) Renewable Primary Energy Demand; c) Airtightness of building envelop; d) Thermal comfort in house premises, etc. can be correspondingly adjusted;
• Conduct comprehensive analysis of international energy conservation codes/standards for Passive House developed and evolved over the past 5-10 years, and calculation methods/tools for assessing thermal bridges and quantifying heat losses, considering climatic and actinometric features of the country regions;
• Work with the team of national experts to specify issues, set milestones, and establish a timetable for the joint work, as well as to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the existing national laws, regulations, and empirical experience;
• Work with the project team, particularly with Task Manager on building codes (Component 3) and Task Manager on Promotion of low-carbon rural housing and settlements, toward finalization and approval of the work schedule and tasks’ sequence.

Activity 2: Deliver technical support

• Conduct prompt support upon issues/questions occurred during the work on obtaining and upon reviewing the necessary baseline data of other international samples of similar/ close construction codes and standards;
• Analysis and assessment of climatic and actinometric database and other related inputs to develop a simulation model for Passive Houses meeting the associated requirements and standards.

Activity 3: Conduct online meetings with national partners of the project:

• Participate in online meetings with a representative of the national expert team and the project team to select key indicators and boundary conditions for the development of a Passive House simulation model adjusted to national climatic and environment conditions, including climate features in various regions of the country;
• Conduct online consultations with national experts, supported by dedicated project managers, on consistency of developed national norms/standards with international ones.

Activity 4: Submit report(s):

• Prepare a summary report on each individually developed national norm/standard, on the recommendations presented, and on improving the results (20-30 pages)

Competencies

• Demonstrates integrity and fairness by modelling UN values and ethical standards;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Excellent communication skills;
• Excellent analytical skills;
• Strong oral and writing skills;
• Extensive knowledge of PC applications;
• Focuses on result for client and responds positively to feedback;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure;
• Ability to work independently as well as part of a fairly big team;
• Ability to operate under strict time limits.

Required Skills and Experience

I. Academic Qualifications:

• University degree (at minimum, a Master’s degree or equivalent, PhD is desired) in architecture, civil engineering, construction engineering, energy engineering, buildings design, energy efficiency or related fields.

II. Years of experience:

• At least five (5) years of progressively responsible working experience in development of building codes;
• Professional knowledge, good understanding of energy efficiency, passive house design, Passive House criteria and requirements as well as calculation methodologies for building energy modeling and design for passive buildings;
• Proven experience in conducting high-level consultations and reporting skills;
• Sound knowledge of best international practices related to Passive Housing;
• Proven working experience in the relevant field in the Eastern Europe, CIS countries. Relevant working experience in the Central Asia countries is an asset;
• Proven working experience with international development organization in promoting energy efficiency and passive house techniques is an asset

III. Language requirements:

Proficiency in written and spoken English is required. Sound knowledge of Russian is an asset.

Application Process:

Interested candidates need to apply online at www.jobs.undp.org and upload requested documents in Part 4 of Procurement Notice no later than end of December 07, 2021 (New York time). Please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document. Your on-line applications submission will be acknowledged to your email address provided in application. If you do not receive an e-mail acknowledgement within 24 hours of submission, your application may not have been received. In such cases, please resubmit the application, if necessary.

Link to application at the UNDP Job Site – https://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_job.cfm?cur_job_id=103418

(cut and paste into browser address bar if the link does not work).

Your on-line applications submission will be acknowledged to your email address provided in application. If you do not receive an e-mail acknowledgement within 24 hours of submission, your application may not have been received. In such cases, please resubmit the application, if necessary.

You can review detailed Procurement Notice, Terms of Reference and download templates from the UNDP Procurement Notices Site following the link http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=86060. (cut and paste into browser address bar if the link does not work).

Application submitted via email, incomplete applications or received after the closing date (December 07, 2021) may not be given consideration.

For more detailed information about UNDP Uzbekistan please visit our website at www.uz.undp.org UNDP is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified female candidates, people with disabilities, and minorities are highly encouraged to apply. UNDP Balance in Manage Policy promotes achievement of gender balance among its staff at all levels.

Requests for clarification must be sent in writing to pu.uz@undp.org, ensuring that the reference number above is included in the subject line. UNDP shall endeavor to provide such responses to clarifications in an expeditious manner, but any delay in such response shall not cause an obligation on the part of UNDP to extend the submission date of the Proposals, unless UNDP deems that such an extension is justified and necessary.