Exemplary role of public authorities in accordance with Art. 13 Abs, 5 RES Directive
Updated: 10.01.2019
The Act No. 555/2005 Coll. on Energy Performance of Buildings is the main instrument to reduce GHG emissions from buildings. It provided a regulation on Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) for buildings. The legislative changes took effect as of January 2013, and they set standards for the compilation of EPCs in order to improve their quality.
Buildings that are obliged to provide an energy performance certificate include public buildings with a total floor area of more than 250 m² owned by a public authority and buildings with a total floor area of more than 500 m² which are frequently visited by the public (§ 8 par. 3 in conjunction with § 5 par. 2 Letter b Act No. 555/2005). The content of energy performance certificates is set by the Decree No. 311/2009 Coll. of the Ministry of Construction and Regional Development of the Slovak Republic.
Additionally, all new buildings, which are occupied by public authorities and which are owned by public authorities must meet the energy performance requirements of a near-zero-energy building after 31 December 2018 (§ 4b par. 1 Letter a Act No. 555/2005).
A near-zero-energy building (building with almost no energy need) is a building with a very high energy efficiency. Nearly zero or very small amounts of energy needed to use such a building must be provided with effective thermal protection and energy largely supplied from renewable energy sources located in or near the building (§ 2 par. 8 Act No. 555/2005).