The Central Bohemia Region wants to insulate dozens of public buildings

Prague - The Central Bohemian Region aims to insulate dozens of public buildings with the help of the New Green Savings program, thereby reducing their energy demands. This will concern schools, nursing homes, museums, and other facilities. The work is planned for 2015, said Marek Semerád, the deputy governor for the environment (ČSSD), to reporters today.
     By March of this year, an overview of the facilities that will be insulated should be developed, and it will be determined which will be prioritized first. Afterwards, the region will announce a competition for a designer. "We expect that we could manage the energy audits in the summer, and we will try to obtain building permits by the end of this year or by the middle of 2014," Semerád stated.
     The New Green Savings program, which the Ministry of the Environment (MŽP) is preparing to launch, will have 28 billion crowns available from the sale of emission permits. An additional ten billion is expected to come from European funds. Semerád reminded that the first round of the program is intended for family homes, and in 2014, public buildings should also be included in the program. "Thus, implementation is expected to take place in 2015," he noted.
     The region wants to consult the preparation of projects with the MŽP and the State Environmental Fund. It is not yet calculated how many buildings will be insulated and how much money the region needs to allocate for co-financing. "We will definitely insulate what is urgent, but we need to calculate the finances so that we do not incur debt for the region as such," pointed out Governor Josef Řihák (ČSSD).
     Support can reach up to 60 percent, depending on how much is saved on energy due to the insulation. The selection of buildings, according to Řihák, will also be influenced by discussions with heritage conservationists.