New Green Savings has expanded its offer with additional ecological elements

Prague - The New Green Savings Program (NZÚ) will begin to support the construction of apartment buildings with very low energy consumption. Builders can use a subsidy of 100 million crowns. The new call will be continuous, meaning that they can apply for the subsidy continuously until 2021 or until the funds are exhausted. It was announced today by the Ministry of the Environment in conjunction with the State Environmental Fund of the Czech Republic (SFŽP). Dominika Pospíšilová from the ministry's press department informed ČTK about it. The conditions have also been adjusted for supporting solar systems.

In addition to subsidies for family and apartment houses, the NZÚ will expand to include subsidies for the use of heat from "gray" wastewater and the construction of green roofs. Buildings with such roofs are partially or completely covered with vegetation and soil. The acceptance of applications for program innovations will begin on January 9 of next year.

Environment Minister Richard Brabec (ANO) commented on the program's expansion, stating that the ministry wants to contribute to a greater supply of apartments with very low energy consumption. There are currently about 700 energy-efficient apartments in the Czech Republic.

Builders can cover 15 percent of construction costs for one project with the subsidy. They can also obtain additional funds for preparing expert reports or ensuring supervisory activities, but only if they properly complete the construction. They must also have a valid zoning decision. According to the Ministry of the Environment, the total amount of the subsidy must not exceed 30 percent of the total eligible expenses and at the same time 15 percent of the total expenses for the construction of the apartment building.

Subsidies for green roofs are also intended to contribute to energy savings for heating and cooling. Green roofs oxygenate, cool, and humidify the surrounding air, disrupting "heat islands" primarily composed of asphalt and concrete.

According to this year's data from the Association of Mineral Insulation Manufacturers, the area of so-called green roofs in the Czech Republic increased last year by about 15 percent to 130,000 square meters. That is roughly two Spartakiad stadiums in Strahov. The NZÚ offers subsidies of up to 500 CZK/m2 of the footprint area of the green roof.

Petr Valdman, director of the SFŽP, added that they will newly support the use of photovoltaic roofing materials or facade systems where standard photovoltaic panels cannot be installed. Subsidies are also directed towards the installation of devices that utilize heat from wastewater, in the form of a fixed subsidy of 5,000 CZK per housing unit.

In the current third call of the NZÚ for family houses, according to the SFŽP, there are over 8,800 applications totaling nearly 1.9 billion crowns. The fund has paid 2,510 applications with a total subsidy of over 277 million CZK. In the second call for apartment buildings in Prague, the fund received 269 applications for 218 million CZK, of which 30 have been paid so far, totaling nearly 22 million crowns, said Lucie Früblingová, spokesperson for the fund, to ČTK.