Project “Energy Management Performance Related Energy Savings Scheme” (EMPRESS). Project funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and managed by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the Basel Agency for Sustainable Energy (BASE), implemented in the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 2003- 2007 with technical assistance from ENVIROS s.r.o.

The result of the project was the creation and successful testing of a scheme for the introduction of a “soft” energy management system by financing it on a “no cure - no pay” basis up to the proven savings generated by the introduced system. The implemented management system generates and monitors other cost-saving investment measures.

Under this project, EMPRESS was not yet an independent entity but a center supporting the cooperation of service providers and potential clients (professionals able to guarantee the minimum benefits of introducing an energy management system and companies with potential savings). The role of initiator, facilitator and evaluator in supporting SCP activities has become the basis for future EMPRESS activities.