Energy Consumption Optimisation of Emergency Shelters for Ukrainian War Refugees

Abstract

The paper deals with optimisation of energy consumption of emergency shelters (tiny houses) for Ukrainian War refugees. Significant amount of Ukrainian citizens lost their homes or were forced to leave their properties. These refugees overcrowd the rest of the country and bring huge problems with accommodation and inclusion into existing communities. Accommodation in schools or gyms is just temporary solution with another unpleasant influence on the society. It is necessary to construct new quarters or communities using cheap but energy very efficient constructions. Several variants of tiny house with various equipment features and living or comfort standard are being discussed and compared. These studies are based on real project realised between Ukrainian non-government organisation Synergy and German development agency weChange. Main goal of this research is consumption optimisation of not particular single shelter but rather of large community of shelters containing hundreds or thousands units called shelter city. The tiny houses itself are designed according to passive solar systems standards and with accent to minimal purchasing costs and operational energy needs. Second important requirement is strong optimisation of shelter’s load chart to significantly decrease influence of the shelter city to power grid connection point. Both tasks are important because the Russian attack against Ukraine brings new tasks for power engineering sector. Electricity production, transmission, distribution and consumption must face new challenges. Nowadays more than 35 % of critical infrastructure is being damaged. Remaining infrastructure would be more overloaded, if new customers are connected without energy needs optimisation.