We will help the University of Maribor with the energy renovation of four education buildings in Kranj

We will be renovating buildings in terms of energy efficiency for the broader public sector in Kranj. Five education buildings will be renovated, four of them entirely.

The University of Maribor started its activities in September 2018 to find and select a partner for the renovation of public buildings at Zlato polje in Kranj. A consortium of partners has been chosen, including Petrol, Domplan Kranj and Gorenjske elektrarne Kranj. In May 2020, the abovementioned companies entered into a private-public partnership that will save the University of Maribor €230,000 and reduce CO₂ emissions by over 400 tonnes annually, the quantity absorbed by almost 20,000 trees or 45ha of forest per year.

Encouraging partnerships for the environment
When signing the contract, Jože Bajuk of the Petrol Management Board said: “Petrol is a leading provider of energy renovations and energy solutions in Slovenia, as well as in the broader SE Europe region. In recent years, we have intensively developed this area by committing to sustainable development. Hence the energy renovation projects running in partnership with the public sector are extremely important for Petrol. The Urban Municipality of Kranj is one of the pioneers of energy contracting, considering that we started the first building energy renovation project as early as 2001. Petrol will continue with strategic projects and measures for energy efficiency and introducing renewable and environmentally friendly energy sources in the public and private sectors, with the aim of providing sustainable innovative solutions tailored to the users’ needs.”

The efficient use of energy is one of the key goals in the energy renovation of buildings. The greatest challenge of the future is how to provide for the increasing energy needs and simultaneously reduce the harmful effects on the environment, while also maintaining the same comfort level for users during less stable times. In the scope of the above-mentioned energy renovations, we will cooperate with the Consortium in the complete renovation of the Faculty of Organizational Sciences at the University of Maribor, the Kranj Student Dormitory, the Kranj School Centre, the Zlato polje Sports Hall, and in the technological renovation of the France Prešeren general high school in Kranj. Energy renovations will follow the model of energy contracting, under the principle of the contractual provision of energy savings in public objects at Zlato polje in Kranj. The works are planned to be concluded by December 2020, with a contractual period of 15 years.

The scope of the project
The comprehensive energy renovation of these four education buildings will include the renovation of the entire building envelope incorporating thermal insulation, replacing joinery articles and roof insulation. Heating stations will also be renovated in all the facilities. Energy management will be implemented, enabling appropriate heating system settings and real-time energy consumption monitoring, thereby ensuring the planned energy savings. Thermostatic valves with hydraulic balance will be installed in most of the buildings, the lighting system will be renovated by the installation of energetically efficient LED lights, and the electricity metering points will be optimised. Decrepit heating appliances in boiler rooms (boilers, other equipment) will be replaced with modern ones, enabling the reliable operation of the entire heating system. Heat piping will also be renovated. Heat pump installation is planned, providing adequate coverage with renewable energy sources. In the France Prešeren general high school, only the technological measures will be implemented, since the building is practically new. The boiler room and the heat piping will nevertheless be entirely renovated.

The project of energy renovations has been prepared and will be implemented in line with the provisions of the Operational Programme for the Implementation of the EU Cohesion Policy 2014-2020 of the Ministry for Infrastructure, and has included cohesion funds from the 2014-2020 financial perspective. The project investment amounts to almost €3.5 million, with the investment of the Consortium partners slightly over €1.7 million, cohesion funds in the amount of almost €1.36 million, while the remaining funds of almost €360,000 will be provided by the public partners.

Why energy renovation projects?
Projects involving building energy renovation have winning impacts on all sides - both the cooperating partners and the final users. By taking care of the entire energy renovation process, Petrol saves time and money for its partners. By providing renovation with optimum costs and minimum environmental burden, we ensure optimal energy and water consumption and the desired comfort in buildings. Every step in the right direction counts. And we are aware that efficient resource management is the right path for all.

The Petrol d.d. Department of Energy Solutions in the Public and Commercial Sectors has many years of experience in energy contracting. As early as 2017, comprehensive energy renovations of buildings in the municipalities of Ljubljana, Novo Mesto,
Črnomelj and Hrastnik were completed. In the narrower public sector, the CŠOD Bohinj building and the energy renovation projects for courts in Celje, Murska Sobota and Slovenj Gradec have been completed. In 2018, projects in Metlika, Slovenjska Bistrica and in the Consortium of Styria Municipalities were completed, as well as the second part of the energy renovation in Urban Municipality of Ljubljana. In 2019, projects were finished in the municipalities of Kostanjevica, Šmarje pri Jelšah, the Urban Municipality of Maribor, Idrija, the Consortium of Municipalities of Kidričevo, Slovenska Bistrica and the Urban Municipality of Kranj, in the Šmarje pri Jelšah administrative building and in the Lizika Jančar Student Dormitory in Maribor.