Ukrainian city of Trostianets with support from Greenpeace rebuilds 5-story building destroyed by Russia, switches it to renewable energy
In the Ukrainian city of Trostianets, with the support of Greenpeace, a green reconstruction of a five-story residential building at 53 Blahovischenska Street has been completed. The building was almost completely destroyed during the Russian occupation and hostilities, the city council's press service reported.
"We are proving that we can not only restore what has been destroyed, but do it in a new way – modern, environmentally friendly, and with an eye to the future. Most importantly, people are returning to safer, warmer, and energy-independent homes," Trostianets Mayor Yuriy Bova said.
According to the release, this facility has become Ukraine's first "green" reconstruction project of a multi-apartment building and an example of a complete transition of a large residential building to renewable energy sources. A heat pump and a solar power plant are used for heating and electricity supply. The total cost of the system is EUR 218,000.
The project was implemented as part of a state program and international partnership with financial support from Greenpeace. It is part of Trostianets' roadmap toward transitioning to a fossil gas–free city concept.
Head of the Recovery and Infrastructure Development Service in Sumy region Dmytro Obukhov said restoration work began back in 2023. At the initiative of the mayor, the government decided not only to complete the exterior works but also to fully carry out interior works: entrance and interior doors were installed in apartments, plumbing was installed, wallpaper was applied, tiles were laid and laminate flooring installed, and lighting was mounted in most apartments. The work is expected to be fully completed by the New Year, after which the building will be officially commissioned.
Andree Boehling, European co-lead of the Green Reconstruction of Ukraine project at Greenpeace Ukraine said that this is the first project of this scale in Ukraine. "It is especially valuable to see affected communities being revived and people returning to their homes while using the latest technologies," he added.
As reported, the New Balance Trostianets master plan presented in 2023 was prepared for the Trostianets City Council by CES clean energy solutions GesmbH (Austria), iC consulenten Ukraine, tbw research (Austria), and Modul5 (Austria), with support from independent experts Peter Blaschke, Hannes Horvath, and Madis Maddison. The infrastructure component covered five areas: landfills and waste processing zones, water supply and drainage, wastewater, and energy and heat supply. Taking into account the city's urban development concept, two separate centralized heat supply strategies were developed for the outskirts and the city center. According to the plan, heat generation using biogas is considered promising for the city center, while individual heat pumps were proposed for private homes. It was also proposed to build a large solar power plant on an available 13.5-hectare land plot and to install solar panels on more than 1,000 private homes. According to the master plan developers, two such plants together could meet up to 77% of the city's needs.