Sustainable Energy Successees

   

Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) is a concept according to which the building owner hires a company to realise energy-efficiency measures from their own financial resources, with their payment coming from actual energy savings. In the Czech Republic, the EPC concept is put into effect by a non-profit organisation, KSUE, which assists energy consumers through advisory and educational activities in the field of energy savings and conservation.

In Litvinov, the KSUE signed a seven-year contract with the municipal authorities that includes:

• Auditing of the basic school
• Central regulation of the school heating system
• Installation of thermostatic valves
• Measurement of heat supply
• Installation of water-saving taps
• Regular monitoring of consumption
• Education of local servicemen
• Re-negotiation of contracts with the heat supplier
• Regular maintenance of all equipment

As this was one of first EPC projects in the Czech Republic, it presented special challenges. KSUE did not have to deal only with technical components of the project; in addition, it also had to explain all aspects of the EPC system and the specific project to the municipal and school officials, e.g., development of a contract that would satisfy the special requirements of legislation for municipalities. There was a certain amount of scepticism about this new system of financing energy consumption.

It is important to the success of the project that thorough monitoring of energy use continue. The town has tended to underestimate the importance of regular monitoring of energy consumption, meaning that expected energy savings are not always achieved.

As the municipality partly owns the energy supply company, there is a very little financial incentive to reduce energy consumption. Therefore, the major impetus behind the project was not the financial benefits from saving energy but the fear that overconsumption of energy at the school would project a negative image.