Czech government has offered to allow private businesses to get involved in improving the energy consumption of state-owned buildings. The Ministry of Industry and Trade has proposed that contractors finance the needed refurbishment of the building, and that the work will be paid for using the money it saves on operational costs. Hospitals and regional authorities have already started using this model. EU member states have been ordered to refurbish their state-owned buildings and the properties they operate to make them nearly energy neutral by 2018. All new buildings will have to meet this criterion by 2020, according to ČTK.
