Engineering and Transport Infrastructure

Engineering infrastructure at the Skolkovo innovation center performs two main functions . Firstly, it is an effective system for providing the center with a full range of communal services that create comfortable, ecologically sound living conditions for residents and guests. Secondly, it is an example of an innovative system of city maintenance engineering that can serve as a prototype for the construction of new, modern settlements.

The territory of the Skolkovo innovation center is in fact a laboratory of sorts, in which the best modern innovations and technology in the field of urban planning, proven effective through implementation in significant projects in European Union member states, are put into practice in the Russian context. The Skolkovo innovation center is the entry into the Russian market of technology that is at once tested and cutting edge.

Energy-efficient construction technology and related trends in global development are actively applied on the territory of the innovation city. Buildings will consume an average of 30% less electricity and heating through effective insulation, heat recycling, and other innovative solutions.

Heating will be supplied through a city-wide system. Some energy will be produced locally through the use of rooftop solar panels. Installation of 5,300 square metres of rooftop solar panels is planned, which will provide up to 7% of the city’s required thermal energy for use in water heating systems.

A centralized cooling system has been designed for air conditioning in the majority of the innovation center’s offices and industrial buildings. The system consists of four cooling centers located in each of the city’s districts. Coolant will be supplied to consumers through a buried pipe. The district cooling centers will use effective technology to utilize waste heat from the water heating system, as well as cold accumulators to accommodate peak consumption.

The main component of the Skolkovo innovation center’s electrical system will be two underground transformer substations, “Smirnovo” and “Skolkovo,” each with a capacity of 63 MVA. This is the first project in Russia to implement underground placement of electrical substations on such a large scale. Electrical power will be carried underground, through buried cables. An underground municipal electrical system will allow efficient use of the territory of the innovation center for the construction of buildings serving a variety of purposes. An internal electrical grid will be built using the technology and principles of Smart Grid, which will optimally redistribute the load on the electrical grid, thereby increasing the system’s efficiency and reliability. All of the elements of Skolkovo’s electrical system will be managed automatically by a single control center.

Water is a valuable resource in the contemporary world; therefore, the Skolkovo innovation center seeks to embody a new ideology for water consumption in Russia. The water conservation plan in Skolkovo involves the use of effective means of controlling waste, flow control at the district level, measurement equipment for individual consumers, regulation of water pressure, reservoirs for water recycling, etc. Special attention will be paid to the quality of the water provided to consumers, which will conform to EurAsEC standards and guidelines

Municipal water will come from the upgraded Mosvodokanal water treatment plant on the external network, from which it will pass through Skolkovo’s own centralized water treatment equipment and secondary pumping station, to the municipal water supply network. Rainwater will be partially collected for future use in watering the green areas of the city and “green” roofs of buildings with lawns.

One of the major environmental problems in the modern world in general, and in Russia in particular, is waste management. The innovation center will implement a so-called 3 “R” approach, which involves reduced production, reuse, and recycling of waste. The ultimate goal of this waste management system is to achieve a state of zero waste, in which the export of waste beyond the boundaries of the city approaches zero. The tasks facing the Skolkovo innovation center will be accomplished with the help of technological methods and means that are unconventional for Russia. Firstly, residents and guests of the innovation city will be encouraged to separate their waste at home, at the office, and in industrial buildings. Waste will be separated into five categories: organic, selective, residual, glass, and hazardous materials.

Organic waste will be broken down in households, discharged into domestic sewage channels, and processed by municipal sewage treatment plants. There it will undergo methanation, as a result of which biogas will be generated, which will enter gas-piston systems for co-generation of electricity and heat.

Selective and residual waste will be transported by an automatic pneumatic waste transfer system to two local waste collection stations, where it will be accumulated in containers and transported by special trucks to recycling plants. Electronic equipment and other electronic waste, as well as oversized waste, will be collected separately in the municipal ecological center for disposal of electronic equipment, electronic waste, and oversized waste. Glass waste will be collected in embedded containers and transported to consumers for use. Hazardous materials will be collected by mobile eco-centers or through other means. Garden and park waste will be recycled through composting in an enclosed hangar

Construction of the main utility networks will be facilitated by a buried conduit system . This will assist incremental connection to distribution networks and repair and maintenance work, minimize negative effects on the environment, and avoid inconveniencing the population.