Energy of the frost. Sustainable strategies for Yakutsk, the extreme cold city

Nowadays, rising the topic of sustainability is a very common practice, if not to say even fashionable. Usually, it is proposed to use renewable sources of energy, deal with efficiency in a case of scarcity of resources, somewhere with the ‘’soft’’ climate. But how to approach this problem and deal with this issue in the areas with very rich natural sources, cheap primary cost of energy and in the extreme cold climate conditions, where a priori the power demand is vastly high? So, the aim of the following study was to develop a strategic proposal in effective use of energy for the city of Yakutsk, the biggest Russian city on a permafrost land. Talking about the city itself, it is important to understand the origin of the energy, way of its effective converting to other forms, that is related to the utilities and transport issues and methods of avoiding losses (housing and energy efficiency). Climate restrictions make impossible use of some standard renewable energy technologies, and the access to indigenous fossil fuels reduces the profitability of the others. By investigating these questions and studying the governmental strategic policies, the solution was found in hydro power, that will change completely the picture, and also using solar energy will have impact on a local scale. To decrease the losses it was raised an issue of energy efficiency classes of buildings in the city. The absence of efficiency certifications ("passports") of the buildings, makes this question very challenging and redirects the research towards the history topics of Soviet mass housing and parameters of construction, that prevailed in Yakutsk as in any other Siberian city. By analysing the city’s building endowment state, individual strategies for the each series of existing apartment houses strategies have been developed. The accurate assessment of the previously proposed strategies and tools, provided the possibility in saving the energy, that consecutively is planned to be used in improving the sustainable public transport system: involving electrical vehicles and using cheap energy of a national grid. Engaging only these three parameters, as energy production, energy performances classes of buildings and mobility network, will significantly change city by raising the standard of living. The ecological situation will improve due to reduction of pollution, CO2 emissions and heat losses. Enhancing the urban design occurs as a result of introducing new tools, promoting slow mobility and pedestrian attractiveness, and finally preserving and reinforcing identity, will also radically affect on the society and culture in general.