Vernesti Technological High School: First Romania Eficienta nZEB Renovation Project in the Rural Area
Through an investment of over EUR 1.3 million, supported by OMV Petrom, the Romania Eficienta program, run by Energy Policy Group (EPG), has modernized and rehabilitated to nZEB standard the workshops of the Technological High School in Vernesti, Buzau County. It is the fourth public education establishment in the country and the first in rural areas to benefit from a near zero energy building (nZEB) thoroughly renovated through Romania Eficienta.
The inauguration ceremony, which took place on January 21, 2025, brought together parents, teachers and community members, representatives of OMV Petrom and EPG, members of the local authorities and the School Inspectorate, and the students had the opportunity to step for the first time into the new modern and healthy building where they will carry out their practical learning activities.
Christina Verchere, CEO of OMV Petrom, present at the event, expressed her confidence in the educational and mobilizing role that the new body of workshops and laboratories will have on students.
By learning in a building renovated to nZEB standards, children will experience first-hand the benefits of energy efficiency. This will help them better understand the importance of limiting waste and encourage them to adopt responsible resource consumption behaviour. And the effect will be one of multiplication: through them, the message of the Romania Eficienta program, promoting energy efficiency in buildings, for a better life and a cleaner environment, will reach further, to family, friends and then spread to the whole community.
The project will also have a positive effect on students’ school attendance and performance, as well as on the development of the communities in Vernesti and the neighbouring localities. Thanks to the excellent learning conditions that the Technological High School now offers, students who wish to pursue a technical profile can choose to stay closer to home. This ensures that more students are attracted and retained in the community.
Moving from the local to the national level, nZEB renovations carried out through Romania Eficienta can be successfully used as best practice models for the modernization of schools in the public education system.
The energy renovation of the workshop building was a great opportunity and a real lesson in effective collaboration for Lucica Croitoru, director of the Vernesti Technological High School.
It was a complex project, to the success of which the level of involvement and unified action of all parties involved, from the local authorities and the school inspectorate to the school management and the representatives of the Energy Policy Group, which coordinates the Efficient Romania program, contributed the most.
“Projects of this scale we would never have been able to access, nor would we have had the human and logistical resources to be able to do something like this,” said the director.
Each nZEB renovation carried out through the Romania Eficienta program comes with different challenges. In the case of the Technological High School in Vernesti, one of them was generated by the purpose of the building which accommodates numerous technical installations and equipment used during class hours.
In order to get the work started faster, even the students were ready to participate in this effort and played a very important role. They are the ones who helped the construction team dismantle machinery and furniture in the workshops to clear the building. On this occasion, they demonstrated both their hard work and their technical knowledge and skills!
The second challenge was related to the utility networks, to ensure the new systems and appliances in the building functioned properly. It has involved allocating additional funds and obtaining new authorizations, but the joy of the children and teachers who will benefit from this building of European quality standards has been worth all these efforts.
“The light is pleasant, the air quality, the indoor temperature, everything is optimal and this is what we wanted from the beginning”, said Radu Dudău, EPG president and coordinator of the România Eficientă program.
Daniel Năstase, mayor of Vernești, is extremely pleased with the results and speaks with emotion and gratitude about the importance of this project for the local community and the efforts needed to make it a reality.
“We can compete with any school in Europe and, why not, in the world, because the standards we have here today are state-of-the-art”, says Daniela Palcău, the general school inspector of Buzău County.
România Eficientă continues the energy renovation to nZEB standard of public schools. In the fifth phase of the program, which includes the Vernești project, the official sponsor OMV Petrom has allocated funds of over EUR 7.6 million for the modernization and energy rehabilitation of four schools selected at national level.
