Kaunas Accelerates Apartment Building Renovation, Prioritising Prefabricated Panel Technology

Only 15.5% of Lithuania’s apartment buildings have been renovated, while more than 30,000 are still awaiting modernisation. To accelerate progress, the City of Kaunas is offering an additional financial incentive: the highest-rated projects may receive municipal compensation covering up to 100% of construction costs after state support has been deducted. District-scale renovation and innovative solutions, including prefabricated panel technology, are among the priorities.

Renovation rates vary significantly between municipalities
Data from Lithuania’s Environmental Project Management Agency (APVA) reveal substantial differences between municipalities. Birštonas has renovated 46 of its 62 apartment buildings, or 74.2%; Palanga, 154 of 269 (57.2%); and Druskininkai, 121 of 267 (45.3%). The figures for Kaunas and Vilnius are considerably lower, at 7.9% and 7.6% respectively.

Lithuania has 31,751 apartment buildings eligible for modernisation under the national programme. Accelerating renovation therefore requires not only additional funding, but also more efficient processes and technological solutions.

“If we continue to measure renovation progress in decades, the current model will not be enough. We must encourage residents to make the decision, while also finding ways to complete renovation faster. This calls for greater standardisation, factory-based production and solutions that can be applied across a larger number of buildings,” says Justinas Bortkevičius, CEO of VMG Lignum Systems.

He adds that partially insulating a building with prefabricated panels may also be considered as a separate option where it delivers the required thermal energy savings.

Kaunas is prepared to invest more in better outcomes
In June, Kaunas City Council approved a new programme to encourage apartment building renovation. Under the programme, the highest-rated projects may receive compensation covering up to 100% of construction costs after state support has been deducted.

Projects are assessed against defined criteria. Additional points are awarded for district-scale renovation involving two or more apartment buildings in the same area and for innovative solutions, including prefabricated panel technology.

“State support alone is not always enough to persuade residents to renovate their homes. We are therefore looking for additional ways to encourage people in Kaunas to take this step,” says Karolina Sakalauskienė, Head of the Housing Modernisation, Administration and Energy Division at Kaunas City Municipality.

The municipality also wants renovation to improve not only individual buildings but their surroundings. Through the “(R)evolution” programme, the environment around spatially connected renovated or soon-to-be-renovated apartment buildings may also be upgraded.

“We want renovation to transform not just a single building, but the entire living environment. That is why the new programme encourages residents to act together,” Sakalauskienė says.

Prefabricated panels can reduce time on site
Even greater funding does not remove one of the main challenges of renovation: the lengthy process. Prefabricated panel renovation can help shorten it by moving more work from the construction site to the factory. The building is scanned in 3D, facade panels tailored to the specific property are manufactured using the resulting data, and the panels arrive on site ready for installation.

“The essence of prefabricated panel renovation is to complete as many processes as possible before arriving on site. The building is scanned precisely, the elements are prepared in the factory using the captured data, and only installation takes place on site. This enables better planning and reduces the time spent at the property,” says Bortkevičius, whose company has certified the technology.

Pilot projects expand to apartment buildings
Prefabricated panel renovation is already being tested in real projects. One of the first was completed at Balys Buračas Gymnasium in Karmėlava, and in 2026 the technology began expanding to apartment buildings in Vilnius and Utena.
Facade panel installation has begun at Antakalnio St. 91 and Tuskulėnų St. 6 in Vilnius. At the apartment building at J. Basanavičiaus St. 106 in Utena, installation is scheduled to start in September.

According to APVA, the technology could theoretically be applied to around 11,000 more apartment buildings in Lithuania. Each building must nevertheless be assessed individually, considering the condition of its structures, height, fixing options and other technical factors.

Bortkevičius says that scaling the technology will require not only more projects but also a more mature market, with more designers, contractors, certified systems and standardised processes.

“Pilot projects allow us not only to test the technology, but also to identify what the market still needs before this renovation model can be applied at scale,” he says.

With more than 30,000 apartment buildings awaiting renovation, financial incentives alone will not be sufficient. The Kaunas programme and emerging technological solutions point towards a model that can modernise more buildings, improve energy performance and shorten the renovation process.