One of the directions of work in German-Polish-Ukrainian Society – to support the development of governmental society in Eastern Partnership countries. Our strife for innovation spreads not only on reforms in social fields, but on our concerns about the environment as well. From the beginning of the construction of the “Our Kids” Centre we were trying to make it not just comfortable for children, but also environmentally friendly. That is why we initiated and implemented an innovative heating system project on the Centre’s territory. We consider our responsibility not only to care for physical and mental health of our children, we want to teach them how to treat the environment and try to use energy resources as efficiently as possible.
Our choice was a subsurface geothermal heating system, which utilizes the difference in temperatures between ground and air. Ground heating pumps collect primal energy and therefore protect the environment and climate. The principle of its work – heat transfer from outside to the Centre’s building in winter and the other way around during summer. In the “Our Kids” Centre the geothermal system consists of an external geothermal field (54 probes and 3 collector wells) and an inner heating station (3 pumps 60 kilowatts each).
Advantages of using this heating system are:
- eco-friendly
- renewable energy
- independence from climate
- time of day or year
- low maintenance costs
- long expenditure time.
We also try to limit the usage of other resources as much as possible. Our buildings are constructed with energy conservation principle in mind; their effective containment allows us to keep the air conditioning off in the summer, therefore saving on electricity, while in the winter it allows us to save up to 30% of energy compared to the typical buildings in Ukraine.
We do not fantasize about changing the whole world with our actions, but we know that all changes start with yourself!