Total energy savings (thermal and electrical): 541,150 kWh/year CO2 emissions: 158,6 tCO2/year Start of works: 20/10/2022 Works completed/Date of technical acceptance: 24/03/2023
Thermal insulation of facade walls,
ceiling and roof;
Replacement of existing carpentry;
Improving the central heating system;
Partial
replacement of lighting fixtures;
Total investments (BAM with VAT): 912,155.51
Total energy savings (thermal and electrical): 602.093 kWh/year CO2 emissions: 2,1 tCO2/year Start of works: 10/11/2022 Works completed/Date of technical acceptance: 10/03/2023
Total energy savings (thermal and electrical): 336,851kWh/year CO2 emissions: 95 tCO2/year Start of works: 20/10/2022 Works completed/Date of technical acceptance: 24/03/2023
The heating bill is like some sort of mystery. Whatever you do, even if you recently changed and upgraded the heating system in your home, the bills remain relentlessly high. If you’ve encountered this problem, we have a couple of simple but useful tips. Seemingly insignificant things can hurt your heating performance. Avoid a couple of mistakes you probably don’t even think about but often do, and you’ll see a significant decrease in your bill. There’s no mystery, all the wisdom is in a couple of minor things that can save you money.
Thermostat
The most common mistake people make, in hopes of heating their homes during those cold winter days is increasing the thermostat. When you get home “escaping” the low temperatures you want to warm up as soon as possible, so you don’t hesitate to increase the thermostat to extremely high temperatures. However, there are several problems with this practice. First, it’s irrelevant if you set your thermostat tens of degrees higher: your heating system can only work at max capacity, not faster, better, or stronger than the max. Secondly, if you forget to turn the thermostat back down to a “normal” temperature, your heating is going to be running longer than planned, wasting energy.
Just as it’s not good to turn up the thermostat extremely high, it’s also not good to completely turn off the heating. You were probably tempted into turning it off while you’re at work or on the mountains, to save money. This, however, will result in your home significantly cooling off and when you return, your heater will have to work for a long time to overcome the huge drop in temperature. It is much more practical and cost-effective to set the thermostat to a relatively low temperature so that your heater periodically turns on maintaining at least minimum heat.
Draft
Although many people think that draft is only a myth when it comes to that topic it’s better to stick to the traditional Balkan “fear of draft” and be careful that multiple doors and windows aren’t open at the same time. Other than that, closing curtains and blinds can help your home retain heat when the sun goes down. This is especially true for energy-efficient window treatments, such as thermal curtains. Just don’t forget to reopen the window during the day – that’s necessary to clean out the stagnant air in the rooms.
Some people, in an attempt to control the temperature in a different part of their homes, will try and close up ventilation openings in certain rooms. Unfortunately, this impairs the ability of their heating system to work efficiently. Your system is designed to “naturally circulate”. Plugging vents disturbs the balance and increase air pressure in the air ducts.
Maintenance
Finally, by no means should you neglect routine maintenance. Heaters can accumulate a lot of dust and dirt, especially if you don’t change the air filter regularly. Accumulation of dust and dirt can have a significant negative impact on your heating system and even cause the thermostat to “crack”.
Avoid these seemingly small, insignificant mistakes and you will see for yourself how before your eyes, this eternal mystery of high bills is solved in your favor. Bills will be significantly lower, but not only that. Your heating system will be far safer, more reliable, more efficient, and you will be warmer, smiling, and with more money in your pockets.
One of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s strategic priorities is joining the European Union
One of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s strategic priorities is joining the European Union. BiH’s Stabilisation and Association Agreement went into force in 2015 to intensify the work and commitment of all institutions regarding a significant number of obligations that BiH has undertaken by signing this and all other agreements in the process of joining the EU. Even though the energy efficiency sector is one of the most prominent sectors with a great potential for sustainable and comprehensive socio-economic development of Bosnia and Herzegovina, it is still necessary to approach its development strategically. Therefore, one should consider all possibilities and resources that BiH currently has and opportunities for improving and resolving current shortcomings.
Buildings in BiH are primarily old, heating and cooling systems are outdated, and the majority of them lack insulation. Therefore, in addition to the potentials for energy savings, by improving energy efficiency (EE), public and housing facilities also have a significant potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the implementation of measures to improve heating systems and replace energy sources, without disrupting working and living conditions and at the same time saving the costs. Examples of projects implementing EE measures throughout the world imply that a critical factor for implementing EE programs is to design educational activities, and inform and raise people’s awareness about the importance of energy efficiency in protection of the environment. According to the World Health Organization last year’s report, environmental health risks in Europe cause 1.4 million deaths per year. The majority of these deaths could be prevented, given that environmental pollution results from human activities.
To achieve energy, environmental, and economic sustainability and join the European Union, Bosnia and Herzegovina started financing BiH Energy Efficiency Project (BEEP) with the loan from the World Bank, that is, the International Development Association (IDA). Through the Implementation Unit of the BEEP Project, the Ministry of Spatial Planning of the Federation of BiH is responsible for the preparation, coordination, management, and implementation of the Project in the Federation of BiH, including education of the broader audience on this topic.
The main development goal of the BiH Energy Efficiency Project is to present advantages of improving EE in public sector buildings and to support the development of scalable energy efficiency financing models. The Project is dedicated to refurbishing and insulating public buildings; from 2016 to 2020, the EE measures are successfully implemented on 55 facilities in the Federation of BiH, whose renovation cost 25 million BAM. Some of the results achieved by 2020: estimated savings of 17.716.570 kWh/yr., improved living conditions for more than 457.009 users, 1.325 new green jobs, the average investment of 456.148 BAM per building, CO2 emission reduced to 4.564 t/yr. In addition, new models for financing scalable mechanisms and building market capacities were prepared to develop flexible models for EE financing through the implementation of all requirements needed for establishing the Revolving Fund within the Ministry.
Since the Project has achieved outstanding results during the implementation period, such as numerous insulated public buildings and establishing the Revolving Fund, the activities were continued through the Additional Financing project (AF BEEP). AF BEEP is the extension of the central Project (BEEP), which should eventually result in approximately 100 renovated buildings. Therefore, the AF BEEP project has been extended until 2024.
“I am glad that we continued implementing the AF BEEP project and reconstruction of public buildings in the Federation of BiH. Considering that we are renovating very old public buildings, we are more than satisfied with what the World Bank’s Project has achieved so far. Energy efficiency is one of the basic measures of protection against excessive air pollution, present throughout BiH, especially during winter. The implementation of EE measures has multiple advantages. First of all, we are improving working and living conditions for all users of renovated buildings. Besides that, we are achieving significant energy savings and ultimately reducing air pollution, which is important for the health of the whole society,” said Josip Marić, the Minister of Spatial Planning of the Federation of BiH.
EE measures will be implemented in thirty additional educational institutions, nine health centers, and one police academy in the next four years. Regarding geographical distribution, thirty of these buildings are in the Zenica-Doboj Canton, two are in the Tuzla Canton, four are in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, and four are in the Sarajevo Canton.
By implementing EE measures in public sector buildings, budget users will benefit from significant financial savings and reinvestments, domestic labor force employment, environmental protection, and improved working and living conditions. In addition to projects like this one, the support of each individual is also essential, for they can contribute to a healthier environment by applying EE in everyday life: at school, home, and work.
There are simple ways to be energy efficient while celebrating the most beautiful time of the year, including energy-efficient decorations, baking several dishes at the same time, smart heating and similar things.
The season of decorating your home, enjoying delicious treats and celebrating with family and friends is slowly approaching. Holidays are also a time when electricity consumption often increases, which has a significant impact on your finances, but also the environment. It is easy to forget about the awareness of energy savings as we decorate our homes and cities in a festive spirit. But we all prefer to spend money on gifts and festive decorations, rather than on high bills. There are simple ways to be energy efficient while celebrating the most beautiful time of the year, including energy-efficient decorations, baking several dishes at the same time, smart heating and similar things. We bring you practical tips to help you enjoy the holiday spirit without worrying about excessive energy consumption.
LED light bulbs
Lighting is a big part of holiday decorations for many, both inside and outside the house. Product innovations, such as LED decorative lamps make holiday lights safer and require less energy consumption. When it comes to energy-efficient decorations, LEDs consume significantly less electricity than ordinary decorative lamps and last much longer. This automatically means less waste in landfills because you don’t have to change them often.
Food preparation
Your oven consumes a lot of energy, especially for baking holiday cookies or large holiday meals. Your cooking can become more energy-efficient if you prepare several dishes at the same time, shortening the time of turning on your oven. Group the dishes to be cooked/baked at the same temperature. Resist the temptation to open the oven door and check your baking process. The temperature can drop by up to 25% each time you open the oven door. Additional tip: if you put the lid on your pot, what’s inside will boil faster, and your food will cook more evenly, using less energy.
Heating
As colder temperatures come inside your home, you often increase the heating temperature to keep warm. This year, find other ways you can prevent the cold. Having guests during the holidays can increase the temperature in your home. At these times, reduce the heating temperature. Also, keep blankets around the house and use them to keep you warmer during day and night. Although the sun doesn’t always shine during the colder months, there are still days when it reaches our homes, so take advantage and open your curtains and use the sun’s heat to warm your home.
Holiday travel
Did you know that many electronic devices use energy even when turned off? These energy “vampires” suck in energy without you even knowing it. Even when not in use, because they are not actually out of the energy socket “vampires” use the standby option. Most household appliances automatically switch to this standby mode, allowing them to turn on quickly. This subtle use of energy noticeably affects the total amount of energy consumed in your household, so don’t forget to take all your appliances out of the sockets when not in use, especially when you go on the road.
Shopping
Holiday shopping is often chaotic and, besides the financial cost, it can damage the environment. Namely, thousands of paper and plastic bags end up in landfills after mass purchases during the holiday season. Instead, always carry reusable bags with you to reduce this type of waste. Also, plan your shopping wisely to reduce more trips to the store and use of the car. In this way, you contribute to cleaner air but also significant fuel savings. Additional tip: When packing your gifts, consider using recycled paper. You can create your own wrapping paper using newspaper articles or magazine clippings.
With these practical tips for saving during the holidays, such as energy-efficient decorations, smart shopping and food preparation, you can celebrate the holidays without worries. Not only will these tips help you save money, but they will also benefit the environment.
We bring you five simple tips that you can use every day in your household and thus reduce the monthly cost of using water.
Water is a necessary need of every living creature. The human body consists of a large amount of water, and as much as 85% of the water is found in the body of a newborn baby and about 50% in the elderly. Doctors recommend that you drink at least eight glasses of water a day. In addition to drinking, we use water every day for cooking, cleaning and bathing. Therefore, no one can avoid the use of water.
Drinking water is becoming rarer and more expensive due to the growing need for it due to increased population growth. As we use water more and more, the cost of water increases. That is why we bring you five simple tips that you can use every day in your household and thus reduce the monthly cost of using water.
Repair leaks
Water leakage should not be underestimated as it can often be the reason why your water bill is always high. Dripping tap water may seem harmless, but if it is continuous, it can lead to the loss of several liters of water per day, which ultimately increases your monthly consumption bill. A proven way to reduce your water bill, in the long run, is to fix water leaks as soon as they occur. Some causes can be easily removed, while for others, you may need the services of a qualified plumber. In addition to saving you money by reducing your water bill, repairing leaks also protects your home from major damage that can cost a lot.
Don’t forget to turn off the water
Most people have a habit of letting water flow even when they are not using it. When brushing your hands or teeth, try to turn off the water before rinsing. This way, you can save up to five liters of water per person per day. This should also be the case when washing dishes, so while cleaning your dishes, turn off the water until you need to rinse them.
Bathing or showering?
We consume the most water when bathing and showering. We advise you to practice showering because you can consume up to 50 percent less water than bathing in a bathtub. It is important to consider the shower duration (the optimal time is five to seven minutes) because each additional minute consumes 20 to 40 liters of water.
Use a dishwasher
Hand washing can consume more water than a dishwasher, so the average machine consumes up to 6 liters of water per cycle, while water usually flows from your tap at a rate of 2 liters per minute. If you need more than 3 minutes to wash the dishes, it is better to use a washing machine. In order to save on the cost of electricity and electricity costs, an additional tip is to properly fill the dishwasher (as well as the washing machine). When you start the machine only when it is full, you reduce its number of revolutions, thus reducing energy and water consumption.
Water reuse
Like you, plants desperately need water. There are many ways you can save water consumption, and one of them is to reuse the water you use in your household to water your plants. You can use unused drinking water, collect water in a bucket while taking a shower, or use it to save water when it rains and use it to water your garden.
We can’t survive without water, but without high water bills, we certainly can, and with a few tips we’ve shared with you, you can achieve that in no time. Even if something saves just a few liters of water a day, keep in mind the end goal. With several different steps to reduce water consumption, you can make significant changes to save money each month.
We bring you five tips/ideas to avoid costly mistakes and even save money every month.
Choosing the interior design in your home can have a positive impact on its value, but it also has many benefits that will pay off in the long run. By improving energy efficiency in your home, you can save money but also reduce gas emissions. Steps to a more energy-efficient home can sometimes require a greater investment, such as installing insulation or upgrading a heating system, but on the other hand, smartly choosing furniture positioning or simply replacing ordinary light bulbs with LED lighting can also save significantly. We bring you five tips/ideas to avoid costly mistakes and even save money every month.
Think of natural light
By maximizing natural light in your home, you will create a much more comfortable feeling while reducing energy consumption. An easy way to increase the amount of natural light in your living space is to smartly position the mirrors, ideally placing them opposite the windows to amplify the natural light. The color of your curtains also significantly affects the amount of sunlight in the rooms you stay in, so choose lighter curtains during the summer to prevent direct heat from the sun and replace them with darker ones during the winter to retain as much heat as possible. Hang the curtains as close to the windows as possible to increase their effectiveness.
Don’t forget about air circulation
If your furniture blocks the ventilation openings, move it to another location. Ventilation openings must be exposed to adequate air circulation throughout the home. Dense furniture, such as bookshelves or high-back sofas, is a significant thermal barrier when placed next to exterior walls or heating systems. It may seem obvious, but putting furniture in front of the radiator will prevent the heat from spreading around the room. This causes the radiator to run more or use more energy to heat the room and thus increase the electricity bills.
Benefits of “green” decorations
In addition to making your home warmer and more aesthetically pleasing, decorating with plants brings endless benefits, from improving air quality to improving your mood. There are many types of houseplants that contribute to this, such as bamboo palm, which is a natural humidifier; English ivy, which relieves asthma and allergy symptoms; and Boston fern, which is considered one of the best air purifiers.
Change the lighting in the house
In addition to the thermal energy coming from the sun or energy for heating, we mainly use electricity in the house, which we tend to waste most of the time. To save on the lighting you use, we advise you to replace all light bulbs with those energy-saving or LED bulbs. Although they cost more, the long-term result is greater money savings and a longer lifespan because these types of light bulbs last 8 to 12 times longer than ordinary light bulbs. Almost all of the energy consumed by energy-saving and LED bulbs is directed towards giving light, as opposed to regular incandescent bulbs, which convert a large part of the energy into heat.
Energy-efficient home appliances
Home appliances such as refrigerators, freezers, stoves and washing machines or dishwashers, which are often used, are also the biggest consumers of electricity. The right choice of large and small home appliances can have a significant impact on the energy efficiency of a home. Compared to standard appliances, high-energy home appliances (labeled A, A +, A ++ and A +++) use 10 to 50% less energy. In addition, they help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. If you have some old devices that you have been using for many years, this is an ideal opportunity to replace them with new, more energy-efficient ones, which will be your initial cost, but a long-term investment and savings.
With these practical tips and smaller or larger investments, you can save money in the long run and do a lot at the same time, not only for your home budget but also for environmental protection. In addition to a smaller electricity and water bill, your home will be more comfortable to stay in, but you will also contribute to the conservation of energy resources and cleaner air. By improving energy efficiency, we improve the comfort of our home, but also the quality of life.
