The energy performance certificate will probably be obtained by all larger buildings

Prague - The energy performance certificate will now be displayed in a prominent place in all buildings with a total usable area greater than 500 square meters that are frequently visited by the public. Until now, only buildings used by public authorities were required to have the certificate. The government’s amendment to the energy management law, which stipulates this, was today approved by the Chamber of Deputies. The obligation to process the energy performance certificate will only apply to major changes in completed buildings during refurbishments and renovations, not to all changes, as proposed by the government.

The Chamber inserted an amendment from Deputy Pavel Pustějovský (ANO), which modifies the obligation for operators or owners of energy-producing facilities. A similar proposal was also made by Petr Dolínek (ČSSD), but the Chamber did not vote on it because Pustějovský's proposal was successful. According to both deputies, the current wording of the law could mean that an owner would have to meet the requirements for extensive modernization and reconstruction with any building modification, even if the modifications did not pertain to energy or heat production. The amendments from both deputies were criticized by Hnutí Duha, which claims they effectively abolish the current obligation for operators of old coal-fired power plants to invest in efficiency improvements during renovations.

At the suggestion of the Economic Committee, the law raises the threshold for monitoring heating systems from the current 20 kilowatts to 70 kilowatts and for air conditioning from 12 to 70 kilowatts. The controls will now also apply to heat pumps or electric resistance heating. According to Deputy Pustějovský, however, the total number of monitored devices should decrease.