News, January 2008.
Star Community Initiative brings warmth to the Russian Far East Orphans
Implementation of the Energy Efficiency project helped Far Eastern family orphanage to save significant energy resources, funds and at the same time stabilize temperature in the residence building
With the $ 25 000 grant provided by USAID through the GDA mechanism the SCI grantee Vladivostok Society for Child help implemented the energy efficiency project in its “Family Hearth” village located in Razdolnoe settlement near Vladivostok. The village was designed to give an opportunity to orphans to stay in families that already have their own children. Within this project the residence building was insulated. All walls were coated with the new insulating materials and plastered. Also the new windows were installed.
Local businesses also took part in the project. They funded installation of energy efficient windows in the entire building thus contributing with $ 21 000. Besides that village inhabitants were mounting insulating material and windows themselves providing an equivalent of $ 10 000 of the in-kind contribution.
As a result coal consumption was reduced by 30 tons what is roughly equal to 90 tons of CO2 equivalent emissions reduction.
Besides significant climate impact the project had a tremendous social and economic effect. Direct economic effect is equal to $ 2 000. Indirect effect on reduction of the amount of operators labor time exceeds $ 8 000. Temperature regime in the residential building is stabilized at the recommended sanitary level (+21 C). Walls of the building were liberated from harmful fungi. Respiratory diseases rate among children was reduced by 50%.
In January at the gathering of all “Family Hearth” adult inhabitants it was decided to reinvest saved funds into further EE activities (replacement of the light bulbs to the energy saving ones) and development of own organic farm that will provide the village with sustainable source of safe food and extra revenue.
