Green Prague Congress Centre

Sustainability is trendy, but also the chosen path. The Prague Congress Centre has successfully ventured out on it, combining its vision with technology and an active approach, thus proving that even monumental spaces hosting large congresses and social events can be run sustainably. And the events that it organises at a top level in the premises of the neo-functionalist gallery with more than two hundred works of art are also sustainable.

Green policy not only on paper

PCC takes the sustainable approach seriously and takes pride in its comprehensive approach. The company's employees minimise the use of disposable products, materials and packaging, have replaced paper documents with a digital signage system, use recycled packaging, and special soda machines are available throughout the building, thanks to which drinks in plastic packaging are almost not found in the building. Big changes are planned in waste management with the ambition to sort 10-15 % more waste and reduce the frequency of collections to a minimum.
Sustainability also plays an important role in organizing events - from arrival to the last cherry on the catering table. Visitors will be treated to refreshments from Zátiší Catering, which this company prepares directly in the building. This eliminates transport costs, disposable packaging, and minimises waste. And if there is anything left over, the leftovers go to the community fridge. The food is prepared using local ingredients and herbs, which are also grown on the terrace of PCC. We have also set up one of the largest charging hubs in Prague, which charges up to 16 electric cars at once. When choosing business partners, we emphasise an eco-friendly approach.

Ecology and savings go hand in hand

Over two hundred and fifty events per season are held at the PCC every year, and half a million visitors pass through its gates. The building itself and its operation were not energy efficient. In the past, the centre annually spent over EUR 3 million on electricity. In 2016, the PCC team and its partners embarked on the most technologically complex EPC project in the Czech Republic, which has been gradually running for the ninth consecutive year and is now financing additional savings from the savings already achieved. At the end of 2023, the PCC used savings in the amount of CZK 3.5 million to cover the next stage of lighting replacements with more economical LEDs. The basis of the main changes is a system of modern, smart, and economical technologies, thanks to which, for example, air is preheated with waste heat from the kitchen, or, on the contrary, cooled using free cooling. However, the implemented green solutions are much more complex - from the central switching off or dimming of lighting, to ECO flushers, to dozens of sensors located around the building that check the level of carbon dioxide in the air and regulate the ventilation of each hall separately as needed. Over ten years, savings were to have reached the amount of EUR 9.8 million, representing a reduction of energy consumption by thirty percent. Already now, 8 years after the project was launched, savings amount to EUR 1.226 million. Just in terms of water, there is enough saved in one year to fill three Olympic swimming pools.
Recently, the largest rooftop solar power plant in Prague, the size of a football field, was added to the centre's roof, saving up to 10 % of total energy consumption and significantly reducing the building's carbon footprint. The PCC saves over ten tonnes of CO2 annually, which could fill 1,740 hot air balloons. The Prague Congress Centre is a place where technology meets ecology and a strong belief in the meaningfulness of green change. The result is not only savings, but also unforgettable sustainable events. This unique combination makes the centre an inspiration for the future of congress tourism.

What changes helped us achieve savings?

• Modernisation of the central boiler room, which is now equipped with four new boilers.
• The new cogeneration unit looks like an engine from a really big lorry and can generate electricity and heat from fuel. In the event of a power outage, the Prague Congress Centre can continue to operate thanks to this unit.
• The reconstructed air conditioning system is controlled by dozens of CO₂ sensors located throughout the building. The fan speed only accelerates when the amount of CO₂ in the air conducted away begins to increase. This saves the electricity needed to operate the air conditioning, but also the energy needed to heat or cool the air supply.
• Designer LED lights have replaced the old fluorescent lights. Not only do they look good and are economical, but in places, they also allow for the smooth regulation of the lighting intensity. And when needed, they can shine at the limit set by hygiene standards. The lights in the underground garages also work on this principle. Just this simple trick saves tens of thousands of crowns a year.
• Ordinary tap aerators and ECO toilet flushers „with a small and a large drop“ can surprisingly reduce water consumption by thousands of litres of water per year.
• Measurement and regulation systems, which have the task of maintaining a quality indoor environment in the building, where visitors and employees will feel good.

These elements are like the instruments of an orchestra - only their fine-tuning creates the final effect.

• Waste air, i.e. the air that is removed from the halls, warms the fresh air that is drawn in from the Nuselské Valley in the winter, and the opposite is true in the summer.
• The heat from the cogeneration unit is used for the heating and preheating of hot utility water.
• Heat from flue gas, is also used, which under normal circumstances would fly up and out the chimney in an instant. In the Prague Congress Centre, it is first used to heat the air that is necessary for combustion in the boilers. If the icy outdoor air were to be forced into the boilers, their temperature would unnecessarily drop, thus also decreasing their efficiency. The fact that this process works can be confirmed by the colour of the flue gas. The whiter, the higher its temperature. If the gas is barely visible, then it has passed on the heat.
• The heat, generated on the southern sunny side of the building is used to heat the rooms located to the north.

The conductor of this orchestra is the staff of the control room. They are greatly assisted by the individual temperature control system (IRC) installed in individual rooms, enabling the automatic adjustment of temperature according to the programme of the building, but also according to use. A higher temperature is set in the meeting rooms, but on the other hand, the temperature is up to two degrees lower in the toilets, corridors, and staircases. Space occupancy is also taken into account. Each spectator "warms up" the air of a room with the heat of their own body; therefore, it is necessary to heat the halls adequately so that there is thermal comfort for the entire duration of the event. The computers in the control room take care of that, too.

The project in the Prague Congress Centre was implemented in the form of an Energy Performance Contracting (EPC)*, where the costs of modernisation are covered by future energy savings, the amount of which is contractually guaranteed by the Prague Congress Centre.

An important part is energy management, the task of which is to find places with additional savings potential. The project provider is ENESA a.s. from ČEZ ESCO.

*EPC

• An Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) is one way to modernise heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and other energy management components in buildings with high energy consumption.
• The advantage of EPC is that the investment is repaid from future savings, the amount of which is contractually guaranteed to the customer.
• The customer and the supplier thus have one goal: maximum energy savings.
• The method of reporting is agreed upon in the contract. This ensures the provability and transparency of savings.
• Part of EPC is energy management, which has the task of monitoring and analysing energy consumption and looking for other areas where savings could be made.

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