By 2050, buildings in the European Union should not contribute to air pollution through their operation. A few weeks ago, the member states agreed on new rules that should lead to this. And they will affect new buildings as well as older buildings. Because of them, the Czech Republic will have to speed up the pace of repairs to residential buildings, but also to offices or office buildings.
Prague
8:34 am April 28, 2024
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New buildings should only be built emission-free, i.e. independent of fossil fuels | Source: Profimedia
EU countries are primarily interested in reducing the energy efficiency of houses. Buildings in the European Union account for about 40 percent of all energy consumption and account for roughly a third of emissions. Both can decrease, for example, due to warming or the use of renewable resources.
The European Commission has recommended that EU countries reduce emissions by 90 percent, to achieve this by 2040
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However, the Ministry of Industry and Trade warns in advance that not all buildings will be decarbonized and not every house will have to be completely emission-free. However, the Czech Republic must set such conditions so that it works as much as possible.
For example, energy-intensive public buildings should be improved, as well as offices and residential buildings. The new rules should also apply to all new buildings. They will have to be emission-free – that is, independent of fossil fuels – and well insulated with low energy consumption.
“New buildings will have to meet the emission-free standard from 2030 and public buildings from 2038. For existing buildings, the focus is on increasing energy efficiency through renovations, while the directive encourages member states to support these renovations,” explains Marek Vošahlík, spokesman for the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
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The Directive sets progressive targets. For example, by 2030, the average energy consumption of the housing stock as a whole is to be reduced by around 16 percent. In the same year, 16 percent of the least economical non-residential buildings are also to be renovated.
At the same time, the directive leaves room for the member states to decide what kind of buildings these will be.
The Czechs must speed up
The Czech Republic will have to significantly speed up house renovations. The majority of people in the country live in houses that do not meet higher energy standards. For example, according to the analysis of the Zateplojeme Česko alliance, the majority of the housing stock built before 1980 needs reconstruction.
For example, out of 156,000 such apartment buildings, only 40 percent have total insulation. Single-family homes are even worse off.
“I perceive that the greatest need is really in the segment of single-family homes, of which we have about two million. We also see a neglected area in public buildings, when the state should set an example and renovate its buildings,” points out Marta Gellová, director of the Chance for Buildings alliance.
On the contrary, according to Gellová, in recent years, for example, office buildings or shopping centers have been repaired significantly.
1,500 interested parties have already used the Grandma’s House Repair program. The Ministry expects that there will be up to 40,000 of them
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So far, more companies are interested in modernizing their buildings than the state itself. When houses use a lot of energy for heating or, conversely, cooling, they are more difficult to rent.
On the other hand, these modifications require significant investments, and especially small businesses do not have them. Therefore, up to half of them do not invest in renewable resources at all.
“The smaller the company, the less flexible it is to react to upcoming trends. It is often caused by a lack of information about the issue or a lack of free capital,” adds Eva Svobodová, CEO of the Association of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Entrepreneurs.
However, the Národní rozvojová banka, for example, can help entrepreneurs with building renovations. It offers them a preferential loan to cover costs, and entrepreneurs can even get a subsidy for this.
According to the Ministry of the Environment, further assistance is also being prepared for entrepreneurs from Prague who could not use the current support of the bank.
Patrick Salat
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