Successful environmental investments at open door days of mountain huts...

Successful environmental investments at open door days of mountain huts.

Numerous Slovenian mountain huts have already implemented various energy and environmental investments that greatly reduce the negative impacts of these facilities on the environment. Within the framework of the project Energy and Environmentally Efficient Facilities from Mountains to Valleys, some successful investments will also be presented at the open door days, which will take place on July 15 and September 16 at Dom na Menini planini, Domžalski dom na Mali planini, and Koča na Planini pri Jezeru.



The Alpine Association of Slovenia (PZS) in partnership with Cipro Slovenija is implementing the project Energy and Environmentally Efficient Facilities from Mountains to Valleys, co-financed by the Eco Fund, Slovenian Environmental Public Fund. Its main purpose is to improve understanding and awareness of the possibilities for environmental-energy improvements of facilities and their positive impact on the quality of the environment in which we live. Within the project, which runs from March to November 2017, various activities are taking place; the most interesting for the wider public are the July and September open door days.



"The Alpine Association of Slovenia has been running an advisory office for mountaineering associations since 2012, primarily focused on wastewater treatment and drinking water management in mountain huts. Facilities such as mountain huts, hunting huts, fishing lodges, and similar do not receive additional state aid for environmental and energy improvements. In many cases, owners—mostly various types of volunteer associations—have limited financial resources for environmental and energy upgrades of their facilities, and sometimes a lack of knowledge about options, as some energy solutions can be very inexpensive. Therefore, with this project, we want to enable better access to information for owners of such facilities and in the future financial incentives for these types of facilities as well. Thus, owners of facilities such as mountain huts, hunting and fishing lodges, and similar, have the opportunity during the project to obtain free advice in the areas of wastewater treatment, drinking water, renewable energy sources, and building energy renovation," explains the red thread of the project by PZS expert collaborator Dušan Prašnikar.



Some mountain huts have in recent years successfully model-regulated certain segments of environmental or energy investments that mean a strong reduction in the negative impacts of these facilities on the environment. As part of the project, open door days will thus take place where successful environmental investments in mountain huts will be presented free of charge, namely on July 15 and September 16, 2017, at Dom na Menini planini, Domžalski dom na Mali planini, and Koča na Planini pri Jezeru. Guided presentation of environmental-energy investments in these mountain huts will be at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. At Domžalski dom, there will also be a lecture at 11 a.m. on Fuels and Simple Energy Measures in Buildings, intended for all facility owners, from mountain huts to private houses or apartments. After the lecture, ENSVET network energy advisor Patricijo Božič will also be available for individual questions.



"Visitors will be able to learn more about the characteristics and effects of these investments at the open door day. Representatives of mountaineering associations, who are the owners of the mountain huts, will be available for this information and data. For the most part, these investments are small biological wastewater treatment plants, thermal insulation of facades and roofs, wooden external joinery, electricity generation via renewable energy sources, and smaller measures to reduce energy and water consumption," announces Prašnikar, who also lists other activities under the project Energy and Environmentally Efficient Facilities from Mountains to Valleys. For owners or managers of facilities such as mountain huts and other volunteer association facilities, a professional excursion to a mountain hut in Austria will be organized, where they will view an example of a facility with successfully implemented environmental-energy investments; a workshop on ways in which associations and the state can help owners of these facilities implement as many environmental-energy improvements as possible is also intended for them. The project also addresses the wider public, for which the open door days and informative-awareness publications are intended. "We will also pay additional attention to young people so that they learn about the impacts of facilities such as mountain huts on the natural environment as well as possible solutions to minimize these impacts as much as possible. Professional trips to the demonstration mountain huts will be organized for primary school students and youth," Prašnikar rounds off the project.