Residents of five multi-apartment residential buildings of Vayk town, Vayots Dzor Region soon will pay less for heating their apartments. The construction activities on energy efficiency measures have already been launched in the aforementioned buildings within EU-funded “Access to Renewable and Efficient Energy in Municipalities Vayk and Spitak” (AREEM) Project implemented by Habitat for Humanity Armenia foundation. It is envisaged to implement the following activities: renovation and insulation of roofs, installation of windows in the staircases, renovation of entrance doors and installation of an energy-efficient door in the first floor.
The timeframe defined for the construction activities is 4 months, therefore, according to Sergey Arzumanyan, AREEM Project Manager the works may be completed by the spring of 2017 due to unfavorable weather conditions. He notes that as a result of these activities it is projected to provide energy saving up to 10-20%.
AREEM Project staff has organized Knowledge sharing forum for residents of the targeted five buildings in Vayk. The forum participants were informed about the envisaged energy efficiency measures, expected results, the safety rules during the construction activities, as well as actions required from the residents. Issues concerning further maintenance of the buildings were also discussed.
Multi-apartment residential buildings of Vayk were mainly built in 1960-70ss and now are in poor condition. Taro Avetyan, Mayor of Vayk town considers the deplorable condition of roofs as a priority issue. He mentions that the energy saving norms had not been taken into account during construction of the buildings. “Thus this Project implemented in the scope of collaboration with Habitat Armenia will significantly foster the upgrading process of the buildings, as well as will ease the burden of residents to pay the utilities for energy consumption,” the Mayor states. According to him the Project also creates a great opportunity to reduce CO2 emissions which is the commitment of Vayk Municipality as Covenant of Mayors signatory.
Vardan Hakobyan, who lives on the 5th floor, was excited about the Project from the beginning. Now he utilizes firewood for heating the apartment. “I hope we would have warmer winters and cooler summers after renovation and insulation of the roof,” Vardan Hakobyan mentions adding that in that case may be he will think about proving his apartment with gas and using gas boiler.
About AREEM Project
The overall objective of the Project is to support Spitak and Vayk Municipalities by developing and testing a replicable and efficient model(s) of energy savings through use of efficient measures and renewable sources in residential and public buildings, incorporated with their Sustainable Energy Action Plans aligned under the “Covenant of Mayors” requirements.
The Project is funded by the European Union and Co-funded by the Municipalities of Vayk and Spitak.
Within the Project energy efficiency measures will be implemented in 27 multi-apartment buildings of Spitak town and 18 in Vayk town.
