The Energy-Efficient National Theater at the Open House Prague Festival

What does the energy infrastructure of the historic National Theater building look like? And what all has to happen beneath the surface for the theater to function every evening? As part of this year’s Open House Prague festival, we prepared a special accompanying program titled Energy-Efficient National, which took visitors into technical areas normally inaccessible to the public.

The guided tours were led by Jan Míka, Deputy Director of Technical and Operational Management for HVAC, who presented current projects focused on energy savings, technological modernization, and more sustainable operations at the National Theater complex. Visitors got to see, for example, the lowest basements of the operations building and the utility tunnels near the Vltava River.

It is here that the extensive technical infrastructure is located, ensuring heating, cooling, ventilation, and stable operation of the individual buildings of the National Theater. In recent months, an extensive modernization of the energy center has also been underway here, aimed at reducing energy consumption, limiting CO₂ emissions, and increasing the theater’s energy self-sufficiency.

The project includes new cogeneration units for combined heat and power production, modern heat pumps utilizing water from the Vltava River, and a heat storage system in giant tanks located deep beneath the building. The modernization also covers ventilation systems, measurement and control systems, and lighting throughout the complex.

The Energy-Efficient National program was part of the Open House Prague weekend, during which visitors could also take a look inside the National Theater’s operations building. There was extraordinary interest in the tours, confirming that, in addition to artistic operations, audiences are increasingly interested in the “invisible” infrastructure that makes the theater’s daily operations possible.

The sustainability of the National Theater is supported by the FEDORA Platform and co-financed by the European Union.