The government will check what you use to heat your home. A Central Register of Emissions of Buildings will be established
The Central Emissions Register of Buildings will be a government database with important information on heating houses and apartments in Poland – provides for the draft amendment to the act on supporting thermal modernization. The main goal of the proposed changes to the law is to facilitate the implementation of the “Stop Smog” program.
The draft amendment to the Act on supporting thermal modernization and renovations and the Act on the Environmental Protection Inspection was prepared by the Ministry of Development and the Prime Minister’s plenipotentiary for the “Clean Air” program. The amendment is intended to encourage local governments to participate more in the “Stop Smog” program, the results of which have been unsatisfactory so far. Although PLN 1.2 billion has been allocated for the program in the 2019–2024 perspective, only three municipalities in the country have benefited from it so far. These are Skawina, Sucha Beskidzka and Pszczyna. Two more applications are being processed (Tuchów and Niepołomice).
The Central Building Emission Register is to be a new tool helpful in the fight against smog. It will include all heat sources with a nominal thermal power of up to 1 MW. The database will include information such as:
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how a residential building is heated,
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when and what heating-related inspections were carried out in a given building (e.g. inspection of chimney flues),
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what is the energy performance of the building,
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whether any form of subsidy or relief related to thermal modernization was granted (e.g. thermal modernization bonus, renovation bonus, subsidy for the purchase and installation of renewable energy sources),
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whether any form of financial support from public funds was granted (e.g. housing allowance, energy allowance, specific fuel allowance).
The data that will be included in the register will come, for example, from inspections carried out by authorized persons (e.g. chimney sweepers, city guards) and from existing databases of energy performance of buildings.
The government experts from the Polish Smog Alert were the first to present the idea of such a register. They proposed introducing an obligation to register heat sources, similar to the obligation to register cars.
