The floors, walls, ceilings and roof of the Energy Institute Hrvoje Požar (EIHP) building in Zagreb are networked with new technologies. Smart lighting, heating, cooling and air conditioning systems are turned on while employees are in the office and turned off as soon as they leave, and on the roof of the building are photovoltaic panels that produce electricity for the Institute's needs, is the introduction to a report by the business weekly Lider, which visited the Institute and spoke with architect Margareta Zidar from the Energy Efficiency Department, the chief designer of the Institute's building renovation with the aim of achieving the nZEB standard, about this demanding and complex renovation project.
This is a pilot project implemented as part of the ‘Energy and Climate Change’ program of the Ministry of Regional Development and European Union funds with the support of the donor countries of Iceland, Liechtenstein and the Kingdom of Norway under the European Economic Area (EEA) Financial Mechanism 2014-2021. The project aimed to improve the knowledge of those involved in building renovation for the application of innovative technical solutions to achieve nZEB standards, to establish a national training center for nZEB, and to conduct a deep, energy and seismic renovation of the EIHP building.
The project manager was EIHP, and the project partner was the Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Zagreb. The value of the project, or subsidy, was 1.6 million euros, of which 1.2 million euros was invested in the pilot building renovation action, and EIHP additionally invested 700 thousand euros of its funds, so the total investment value is 1.9 million euros. It is important to know that the nZEB project is not a building, but an educational platform, and the pilot action of the renovation of the EIHP building is a study of which technologies can be used to achieve this standard and how to prepare a project for the renovation of the building. The nZEB project lasted from May 2021 to April 2024, when the first phase of the EIHP renovation, which lasted one year, was completed. Two more phases are planned, but their implementation will depend on permits and the length of the administrative procedure.
You can read all the steps in the renovation process, the final results of the nZEB project and further plans in the report at the link: https://lidermedia.hr/tehno/nema-vise-rasipanja-energije-u-zgradi-energetskog-instituta-162069
