The CTU University Center for Energy Efficient Buildings focuses on optimizing energy savings in buildings. For existing and newly proposed projects, a comprehensive assessment of the level of construction quality is necessary, in accordance with the principles of sustainable construction. The SBToolCZ (Sustainable Building Tool CZ) methodology assesses and certifies a building's impact on the environment, its socio-cultural aspects, functional and technical quality, economic aspects, management and location.
The SBToolCZ certification tool was created in 2011 and is divided according to the assessment methodology for four types of buildings: administrative, residential, school and the latest SBToolCZEDU certification methodology for primary and secondary schools.
After the creation of SBToolCZ, experts most often evaluated residential buildings. Nevertheless, at present the most certified are school and administrative buildings. The key advantage of the SBToolCZ methodology is localization, which is based on national legislation and fully respects the conditions of the Czech construction industry. It enables a more accurate and objective evaluation of projects in terms of sustainable construction criteria and the anticipated use of the building after completion. The result thus reflects the real quality of the building.
The latest and at the same time the most used methodology is SBToolCZ EDU. It responds to the needs and requirements of the public sector in the field of school reconstruction and construction. At the same time, it is an effective tool for public contracts - it prioritizes quality over low price.
This year 2018 was very beneficial for SBToolCZ. The methodology for school buildings was updated to the technology for kindergartens, and the methodology for administrative buildings was also modified for building renovations. In addition, experts complete the IN-USE methodology for evaluating existing buildings. Thanks to this, each building will have its own certification card, so the areas that need to be focused on for their reconstruction will be known in advance.
In the future, experts will apply other SBToolCZ methodologies. In addition, it will expand the group of certified persons, awareness of the benefits of certification, especially among institutional and private investors.
