The Minister and representatives of the Centre discussed the future of the Czech construction and energy sector. "In addition to being an important tool on the road to meeting climate commitments, systematic energy saving in buildings and cities is now becoming a strategic security advantage," says Antonín Lupíšek, Director of Science and Research at the CTU UCEEB.
Buildings and construction account for a third of the greenhouse gas emissions produced in the Czech Republic. High-quality energy renovations of buildings, which the Ministry of the Environment has long supported, are an important tool for decarbonising the construction sector. "At the Ministry, we have been providing investment support for energy savings in family and apartment buildings through the State Environmental Fund of the Czech Republic since 2009, through the New Green Savings Programme. Moreover, we have currently simplified and made the entire programme more accessible so that more households can benefit from the subsidy. Thanks to the supported measures, the potential for annual savings is 1.44 million tonnes of coal, i.e. 4.5% of the total annual coal consumption in the Czech Republic. In total, this could lead to an annual reduction of 2.7 million tonnes of CO2 emissions, which is a enormous figure," said Environment Minister Petr Hladík.
The CTU UCEEB has long been involved in monitoring and reducing the carbon footprint of the construction industry. Among other things, it has developed a national certification tool SBToolCZ, which can be used for environmentally friendly public procurement in relation to the EU Taxonomy.
Increasing the use of renewables in buildings and cities, energy flexibility and the future potential of green hydrogen were mentioned as important clean energy topics. Increasing the use of natural materials, especially wood for high-rise buildings, is very important for the construction sector. "We are currently exploring the possibility of modifying fire regulations to facilitate the construction of multi-storey wooden buildings," informed Robert Jara, Director of the CTU UCEEB. The need to introduce the principles of circular economy also gains importance, which will allow to save primary raw materials and reduce the amount of waste in the construction industry. "In the future, recycling of insulation materials, wood, but also primary building materials such as concrete is a big issue," said Minister Hladík, adding that the New Green Savings Programme already requires recycling at least 70% of the remaining waste from renovations.
The Minister visited the development laboratories and mentioned the importance of cutting-edge research and development in the field of environmentally friendly technologies in the Czech Republic and the rapid transfer to practical applications available on the market. Domestic development of green technologies can create interesting export opportunities for Czech industry in the future. "The University Centre for Energy Efficient Buildings at CTU is a great place for science and research and is also a model for others. It is only thanks to such places that the Czech Republic can become a leader, whether in energy, construction or any other sector, and I want to thank all those who are already working on it," added Minister Hladík.
