Builders and environmentalists criticize the postponement of New Green Savings

Prague - The postponement of the New Green Savings program is not liked by builders or environmentalists. They argue that people are waiting to undertake house renovations until the conditions for the subsidies are announced. Recently, the Ministry of the Environment's (MŽP) decision to announce conditions for supporting the thermal insulation of family houses a month later in June was criticized by the association Chance for Buildings, which supports energy-efficient construction.
    "Long months of waiting for the announcement of the conditions of the New Green Savings are causing a decline in demand for construction work and are harming this year's construction season. Many citizens may also not have time to properly prepare their projects in order to submit their applications in August," stated Petr Holub, director of Chance for Buildings.
    According to him, a program similar to the expected New Green Savings should be long-term and sustainably funded. "This would allow for a continuous receipt of applications, so homeowners could plan renovations according to their situation and not according to a date set by the ministry. In the construction market, the waiting of applicants for calls would not cause fluctuations in demand for construction work, as is happening now," claims Holub, who believes that the decision to invest in renovation or construction does not emerge from week to week.
    Delays in the start of the project were criticized at a recent conference by representatives of construction companies and unions by Pavel Ševčík, vice president of the Association of Entrepreneurs in Construction. "The MŽP promised to present the conditions for the first call concerning family houses by the end of May, but I believe it will not be met. Further delays are causing problems for construction companies. People are waiting for the announcement of the conditions under which they can obtain the subsidy, and the work is at a standstill," stated Ševčík at the meeting.
    The most impatient are mainly smaller local companies, which are most affected by the current crisis in the construction industry. Small renovations of houses are often carried out by local builders.
    The New Green Savings program replaces the Green Savings program, which was launched by the ministry in spring 2009. It was mainly intended to support energy savings and the use of renewable energy sources in residential buildings. This year, it will be possible to finance only the renovations of family houses using the subsidies; in the following years, this would expand to other properties.