Primary school in Klokocov, a small village in the Northwest of Slovakia, was one of the two pilot projects undertaken in 2000-2001. The school building badly needed rehabilitation – the wooden window frames and doors were worn out, there was no thermal insulation of the outside walls and the roof, the distribution pipes had leaks, and the radiators and electrical installations also needed improvement. In addition, the boiler room was running on fossil fuels (coal, coke and sludge) and was not energy efficient. The aim of the project was to combine the complete reconstruction and upgrade of the school building, which was done as a pilot project for school buildings’ rehabilitation in Slovakia, with the boiler room reconstruction and the fuel switch from fossil fuels to wood pellets. Klokocov school was the pilot project of BIOMASA Association for the replacement of an old fossil boiler using coal and coke with a biomass boiler. As a result of the project, a reduction in CO2 emissions and lower energy bills for heating were expected. The new biomass heating boiler was installed in the main school building. It is a small district heating unit using biomass as a fuel, which provides the heating for the school (including the school gym and canteen), two one-storey homes, the municipal office building and the village service building. This boiler, with a total output of 725 kw, replaced the two old inefficient coal and coke boilers with total output 910 kW, previously in the school and in the municipal administration building. The achieved heat consumption savings were 52.4 %.

The project was financed by grants, a state subsidy, private home owners connected to the heating system and the municipal’s budget. The total investment cost was €336,000 (boiler room, distribution system, building reconstruction). The monitoring and evaluation of the boiler is done periodically by BIOMASA. The implementation of the project has been challenging for all of the parties involved, but the results show that the use of renewables and energy saving measures is the right way to reduce energy consumption and protect the environment.

This project and the experience gained during its successful implementation shows that a strong partnership between the state, the municipality and a non-governmental organisation can achieve excellent results in energy saving and protection of the environment and can be a good example to follow.

Organization Energy Cities has nominated the first biomass boiler installed the Klokocov school as a best example in an Intelligent Energy Europe Programme. The biggest potential to save energy in Europe is in the building sector. By displaying the performance of buildings (i.e. being transparent) one can engage citizens and make them more conscious of their energy consumption.