FM Summit 2026: UWB dominated the National Facility Management Competition

Better indoor microclimate and community energy solutions for apartment buildings were the focus of students from the Faculty of Applied Sciences at the University of West Bohemia in the FM Awards. Their projects won 1st and 3rd place, while Prof. Jan Pašek was named “Person of the Year.”

A total of fourteen nominations across five categories were submitted to this year’s FM Awards professional competition. The Faculty of Applied Sciences at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen dominated the student projects category. The winner was Anna Hospodářská, a student in the master’s program in Civil Engineering – Modern Buildings, while third place went to Michal Fara, a student in the same program. The Faculty of Applied Sciences also achieved success in the Personality of the Year category, with the award going to Jan Pašek, a professor and program director. The winners received their awards at the end of May during a gala evening held in the deconsecrated Church of St. Anne in Prague, as part of the largest professional facility management summit in the Czech Republic.

Analysis and optimization of indoor microclimate in buildings using measured data. This was the title of the winning project by Anna Hospodářská, who is studying Building Design and Construction at the Faculty of Architecture. Anna recorded and compared data on temperature, humidity, and carbon dioxide concentration in a single-family home in the Ore Mountains and in a prefabricated apartment. Based on the measured data, she proposed possible solutions to improve the indoor microclimate, with economic feasibility in mind. “Changing the user’s behavior and habits regarding regular ventilation is a completely cost-effective and immediately implementable measure,” the student cited as an example of an approach that costs nothing.

During his studies at FAV, Michal Fara focused on building operations management. His proposal for community energy solutions in apartment buildings caught the attention of the three-member competition jury. “Community energy means that electricity not currently being consumed at a given point of consumption, typically in the building’s common areas, is shared with individual apartments. There, it is distributed among the individual apartment users according to predefined rules,” explained Fara. Apartment residents can save money by replacing gas boilers with heat pumps, saving on shared surplus electricity, or switching to a so-called single point of consumption, where the entire building purchases electricity as a single customer. The student tested his proposals directly in practice in an apartment building in Rokycany, where a solar power plant and heat pumps are already in operation, and the apartments routinely share electricity.

The Personality of the Year at this year’s FM Awards is Jan Pašek from FAV. The jury recognized his contribution to the development of the master’s program in Civil Engineering – Modern Buildings. “We awarded Associate Professor Pašek this honor for his dedication to establishing and further developing a study program that prepares much-needed graduates for the field of facility management and related areas, and for promoting the field to the younger generation,” said Jiří Knap, president of the Czech chapter of the International Facility Management Association (IFMA CZ), speaking on behalf of the organizers. According to him, students in the program consistently excel in competitions. Jan Pašek confirmed this, adding that many graduates easily secure leadership positions at renowned companies.

The FM Awards competition is a traditional part of the facility management summit organized by IFMA CZ. It recognizes top-notch projects, innovative approaches, and inspiring individuals who contribute to the field's development. In addition to the Student Project and Person of the Year categories, winners are also announced in the Professional Project, Project of the Year, and Discovery of the Year categories. Details are available on the association’s website.