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Russian green builders visit CAT
Posted: 05/12/2006
CAT - The Centre for Alternative Technology has been forging links with Russian green builders. Three scientists from the Siberian eco-housing organisation Ecodom have visited CAT recently, following a CAT delegation’s visit to their premises in Novosibirsk for a seminar on energy efficient housing, sponsored by the British Council.
Energy efficiency has never been a priority in Russia – after all, the world’s biggest country has abundant coal, oil and gas. But dwindling fossil fuel supplies, climate change and environmental pollution are now hot topics all over the world – even in Siberia.
Ecodom was founded by the Institute of Thermophysics in Novosibirsk. It has built 10 houses in a village outside the city, all with various energy saving or generating measures. They hope to build 60 houses in total.
“There are big housing problems in Russia,” Ecodom Educational Director Igor Ogorodrikov said, speaking through a translator. “The Government is promoting independent houses, but a lot of the building is very inefficient. We are trying to find ways of sustainable living and use of resources, which gives something back to the environment.”
Under the Soviet regime, heating fuels were free, so many buildings were constructed with little insulation or care about efficient systems. This means people have little concept of saving energy. Another challenge for the team comes from the massively variable climate – hot in the summer, but below zero for almost half the year.
Igor said that a lot of Russians grow their own vegetables, a tradition Ecodom is hoping to support through designing buildings incorporating vegetable plots. Some of these buildings will also include a source of biofuel.During their visit to CAT, they drew up an agreement for both organisations to support eachother’s work.
The three representatives of Ecodom, Igor, Sergei Alekseenko and Valentina Ogorodnikova also gave a lecture on their work to MSc students studying at CAT.
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