New Green Savings begins, for family houses and Prague "apartment buildings"

Prague - Today, the New Green Savings Program (NZÚ) opens, which offers grants for energy savings and insulation for family homes across the country. For the first time in five years, it will also be accessible to apartment buildings in Prague. The State Environmental Fund will start accepting applications electronically from May 15. This year, the program is expected to be simpler and more open to a wider audience due to changes in its conditions. About 1.1 billion crowns can be allotted, of which 600 million should go to family homes and half a billion to "apartment buildings."
    This year, there will also be a ten percent advantage for residents of the Moravian-Silesian and Ústí nad Labem regions due to environmental burdens.
    For family homes, people can apply for grants in the hundreds of thousands of crowns, while for apartment buildings, it could be in millions. Thanks to some new features, the program should be more accessible, especially to family home owners, as they can now also receive contributions for smaller energy modifications, such as replacing windows, doors, and partial insulation. The condition is to reduce energy consumption by at least 20%.
    Another novelty is that applicants will not have to use prescribed lists of products and companies. The Ministry of the Environment also promises that the processing times for applications at the fund will be shortened. Approval of the application will take a maximum of three weeks, the fund will have three weeks for checking documentation and calculating the amount of the grant, and three weeks for the disbursement of the grant. Additionally, people will now also be able to apply for grants for replacing electric heating with heat pumps and implementing energy-saving measures in family homes over 350 m².
    The amount of the grant can increase to 50% of costs for family homes and up to 20% of expenses for apartment buildings. Family homes can receive a maximum of five million crowns, while apartment buildings can receive grants of up to ten million crowns. Another change this year is the introduction of so-called flat rates per square meter, which should simplify the calculation of the grant amount.