How Do You Say "Energy Efficiency" in Ukrainian?

We spoke with Vira Illiash, public relations manager of the Municipal Heating Reform (MHR) Project in Ukraine, about the goals and challenges of this groundbreaking new initiative.

What is “municipal heating”, and why is it a critical sub-sector in Ukraine’s energy system? How does it impact citizens?

“Municipal heating” is a communal system for the production, distribution and consumption of heat. This system was established during the Soviet period and now accounts for most primary energy use. The system provides heat to more than 65 percent of Ukrainian homes and offices.

Unfortunately, heating companies in Ukraine are perceived as social service providers – a misperception that, together with the current tariff policy and continued lack of investment and inefficiency, has undermined the sector’s sustainability. Municipal heat generation and transportation facilities have not been upgraded, replaced or modernized in the past 10 years. As a result, experts estimate that up to 60 percent of the energy is wasted within the municipal heating chain, with the largest losses occurring at end-user facilities, although the exact magnitude of losses is difficult to measure due to the lack of metering equipment. Ukrainians therefore receive unreliable and low-quality heat supply services with the constant threat of system disruption.

The Municipal Heat Reform Project is designed to help Ukraine implement the reforms necessary to correct this situation.

Can you describe to us some of the heating-related inefficiencies you might see in a typical Ukrainian home? Please also give us an idea of size and functions in a typical Ukrainian home.

First, I should mention that no large-scale heating energy saving campaigns have ever been conducted in Ukraine, so few people are familiar with effective methods of heat conservation. Accordingly, the list of inefficiencies in a Ukrainian home is long. Currently, Ukrainians tape their windows in winter to prevent heat lost – this is something every Ukrainian knows from his school days, when the schoolchildren often did this in their classrooms.

In addition, Ukrainians are well aware that it is necessary to de-aerate the radiators before the heating season in order to avoid air locks, but not everybody does it. For instance, if the house is older than 50 years - and a huge number of Ukrainian houses are in this category because of general reconstruction process after World War II and the construction boom of 1960s and 1970s - radiator valves are not functional, so the procedure is impossible.

The MHR Project will educate people through its public outreach campaign on how to effectively conserve heat in their homes. For example, many are surprised to learn that long curtains covering the radiator and radiator covers cause over-heated wall areas to form condensation on windows, and blocking heat access to the general space, thus losing approximately 20 percent of heat. In many multi-story buildings, entrances are in a deplorable condition, with broken windows and permanently-open doors; consequently every apartment suffers 2 to 3 percent heat loss during the winter.

In urban areas, most Ukrainians live in the multi-story apartment buildings with the average space of 50 – 60 m2 per family of three. In many cases the area could be smaller. The average Ukrainian family apartment usually has two or three rooms (one or two bedrooms and a living room) plus kitchen, utilities, balcony and a small pantry.

What have you learned about Ukrainians’ general attitude toward energy consumption? What is their perception of energy efficiency?

Most Ukrainians are familiar with conserving electricity, thanks to the period when the Soviet Union conducted a wide-scale campaign to conserve energy. Public places carried posters and big boards with a slogan “Conserve Electric Power”, and public institutions had in almost every room a poster that said, “Turn off the lights when you leave!”. Besides, most Ukrainians have electric meters at home and pay only for consumed electricity. This is a good incentive for conservation.

However, this is not true with regard to heating energy: most Ukrainians have neither knowledge nor incentives to conserve heat, except for their personal comfort. There are a couple of reasons for this.

First, in the system of communal economy built by the Soviet Union municipal housing operation offices were traditionally responsible for maintaining, cleaning and keeping order in common areas; for supplying heat insulations of the walls and roofs in the buildings; and for preventive maintenance prior to the heating season. Simply put, several generations of Ukrainians have come to expect that someone will always take care of the consumer.

Second, although people want to learn how to conserve energy and will take measures once they understand that conservation saves money, most of houses – and 70 percent of multi-story buildings –  don’t have heat meters – which means residents can’t accurately measure how much they are using or how much money they could save by reducing their energy use. Moreover, the lowest-hanging fruit of energy efficiency might be in the common space of the multi-apartment building – the staircase, roof and basement; but given the unclear ownership and responsibility over common assets of the building, residents will be most reluctant to invest in energy efficiency in these areas.

What are some specific activities your team has planned to increase awareness of energy efficiency in Ukrainian communities?

First of all, the MHR Project will conduct a wide-scale campaign devoted to energy efficiency, and its key objective will be to change Ukrainian attitudes and practices with respect to this issue. The campaign will be conducted in three stages. The first stage will be education: this is when we will provide information on easy low-cost measures to conserve heat in buildings, and issue a wake-up call for every Ukrainian to take responsibility for the conservation of their country’s energy and financial resources.

In addition, our public outreach campaign will focus on the project’s initiatives to assist the government in its legislative undertakings to help reform the heating system, and we will cover them widely. Cooperation and understanding among the government, heat providers and consumers of communal services is critical to success of the project.

The second stage will begin in 2010 when the project will install meters and regulators in the residential buildings of selected pilot cities. We will educate residents on the benefits of equipment installation and further promote energy conservation. These measures will help people choose energy-saving and comfort because they will be able to decide themselves how much energy they will consume versus how much they will save.

Stage three will be monitoring the results of our work: what worked, and what didn’t. We will apply the best practices and lessons learned to all future work.

During all three stages, the MHR Project will leverage TV and radio public service announcements, billboard advertisement and public events to issue a call to the public to support energy efficiency. Ukrainian celebrities will champion this call in order to attract even more attention. We will also publish information materials for all our targeted groups which include not only adults but also schoolchildren and students who will learn about energy efficiency through the Green School programs for schools and campuses. In addition, MHR will facilitate the establishment of condominium and home-owner associations to improve collective action in condominium management and increase financial responsibility among homeowners.

All issues of the project activities will be presented at public round tables, briefings, press conferences, assessments and interviews with our experts through the project’s web portal and the ministry’s web site.

In your opinion, which of energy efficiency’s attributes will appeal to Ukrainians the most? Will it be the potential to save money, the environmental benefits, the increased energy security or perhaps a sense of national duty – or a combination of these?

I believe that the opportunity to save money will be the most attractive motivation, although the knowledge that by saving energy they can contribute to the country’s energy security and environment will also be important for most citizens.

*RTI International, Taylor-deJongh and Ayrlie Partners from the U.S.; EnEffect-Consult from Bulgaria; and Ukrainian partners – the Municipal Development Institute, Energy Efficient Cities of Ukraine, JurEnergo and OptimEnergo.