Solar panels, a solid fuel boiler house, energy-saving solutions, inclusive apartments and an equipped civil defense shelter – this is how a residential apartment complex will be built in Zhytomyr in 2024 for internally displaced persons.

Four high-rise buildings with 116 apartments will be built in Chervonyi Lane as part of the “Housing for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and Reconstruction of Liberated Cities in Ukraine” program, funded by the European Union and managed by the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation NEFCO. The program includes 6 cities: Dubno, Zhytomyr, Kovel, Lviv, Makariv and Chernivtsi.

Compact houses and cozy territory

The complex will be home to more than 400 IDPs who will receive free apartments. The project involves the construction of four four-storey buildings, installation of necessary utilities and landscaping. A shelter is planned in the basement of one of the buildings to accommodate residents of all four buildings if necessary.

The apartments are one- and two-bedroom. All ground floor apartments are inclusive. In addition, the construction of the apartments includes finishing the premises, as well as minimal furnishing and equipment.

In terms of energy efficiency and the level of technological solutions incorporated into the concept and design documentation, the new residential complex should be better than the market average.

“Usually, the more floors you build, the higher the profitability and the lower the price per square meter. But we conceptually wanted to use a humane scale, so that these would be houses of four floors, which are primarily comfortable for living. The people who will live here will be able to feel comfortable in the adjacent territory. They will have parking spaces, a playground, green areas, and recreation areas within the neighborhood,” – explains project coordinator Borys Pakholiuk.

In total, 6.6 thousand square meters of housing will be built (the total area of all 116 apartments) and 1.4 hectares of territory will be arranged (landscaping, pedestrian areas, recreation areas, car parking for 48 cars).

The site where the residential complex will be built has a large difference in relief, which will require significant site preparation. One of the tasks during the construction process is to preserve as much greenery as possible, and new trees and bushes will be planted to replace some of the removed trees and bushes during further landscaping.

Green and energy-efficient neighborhood

The project will include many solutions related to energy, energy saving and renewable energy resources. In terms of energy efficiency, the buildings will be class C. Solar panels will be installed on each of them, and the apartments will be heated by a solid fuel boiler room.

Four 5-kilowatt power plants will ensure the functioning of the building’s common equipment: video surveillance, intercoms, partial lighting of common areas, etc. The quarter will be connected to a solid fuel-fired combined heat and power plant. This is a boiler house built with funds from the Swiss government, which produces heat and electricity and runs on biomass, i.e. wood chips. This means that the new houses will be heated with locally produced energy.

Modern energy-efficient solutions are one of the requirements of the partners. The design took into account the best technical solutions that will ensure low energy intensity of the buildings themselves and the use of modern approaches to energy efficiency. This is required by the project’s implementing partner, NEFCO.

Inclusiveness

All 1st-floor apartments in all four buildings will be designed to accommodate people with limited mobility. The bathrooms in these apartments will be of a combined type, with showers with folding seats instead of bathtubs. All plumbing fixtures will be equipped with the necessary handrails.

Kitchens for the 1st floor apartments will have special furnishings. The adjacent territory and the civil protection building will also be built taking into account the needs of people with limited mobility: tactile elements, crosswalks, accessible parking lots, etc.

Important: one of the requirements of the European Union is that in the next 10 years after the commissioning of these buildings, the apartments must remain in communal ownership and cannot be alienated or privatized in any way, and they must be used by people who fall into the category of vulnerable.