The district heating makes it from the district of Munich to the Au without any major loss of temperature, where it heats the old district office on Mariahilfplatz. In the former Paulaner monastery and the adjacent buildings, pellet heating systems also provide heat – however, as in all public buildings, the temperature there will be limited to 19 degrees this autumn and winter by order of the Federal Ministry of Economics in order to save energy.
The district of Munich has been working for years to increase energy efficiency in its own properties – at Mariahilfplatz, for example, with new windows that were installed a few years ago, switching to LED lighting, saying goodbye to combined heat and power plants that run on gas, on wood pellet systems – and now modules are to be placed on all district-owned buildings that do not yet have solar systems on the roof. In addition, the district moved into its new domicile in Messestadt Riem at the beginning of the year, which has catapulted it far ahead in terms of energy efficiency: The branch, built in 2003, meets the highest energy standards and is also supplied with district heating.
The new location of the district office in Messestadt Riem meets the highest energy standards.
(Photo: Claus Schunk)
At night, however, the glass building no longer shines, it is no longer illuminated – like all other public buildings in the district and also the town halls in the 29 towns and communities. But what can municipalities do themselves to become more energy efficient? How are the standards in town halls and town halls? A look at a few selected examples – from the old building to the planned new building.
Almost energy self-sufficient
In Unterfoehring The municipal administration is looking forward to a new town hall. In the first half of 2026, the 49-million-euro building should be up and become a role model in terms of sustainable energy efficiency. According to Martin van de Flierdt, spokesman for the municipality of Unterföhring, the building will be 76 percent energy self-sufficient. It is heated with district heating from geothermal energy, supplied by the municipal energy supplier Geovol. A high-performance photovoltaic system on the roof is to generate the electricity for the heat pump and for daily operation. Surpluses are to be stored in a 200-kilowatt-hour battery in the basement. The future town hall will be cooled either by deep geothermal energy or by means of a cold absorption machine. Overall, the new town hall will meet the “Efficiency Building 40” standard, says van de Flierdt. This means that it only uses 40 percent of the energy that an efficiency house 100 would need. This still corresponds to the legal requirements of the Building Energy Act.
The new Unterföhring town hall is to become a role model for energy efficiency.
(Photo: Raum und Bau Planungsgesellschaft mbH)
The existing town hall and community center are already fully supplied with green electricity and heated by Geovol geothermal energy. Van de Flierdt puts the annual heat consumption at around 5,000 kilowatt hours for the town hall and around 4,900 kilowatt hours for the town hall. Special measures to improve the energy efficiency of the community center are not planned.
Pure green electricity
The town hall of Unterschleissheim, the largest municipality in the district of Munich, is supplied with 100 percent green electricity, according to the city. According to press spokesman Steven Ahlrep, it is heated with geothermal energy from Geothermie Unterschleißheim, a wholly owned company of the city. The annual heat consumption of the town hall and community center was just under 1622 kilowatt hours last year. According to Ahlrep, there are definitely ways to make the building even more energy-efficient: “There is a need for improvement in optimizing the heating and ventilation system and the building envelope.” In addition, “user behavior” could be improved and the construction of a photovoltaic system on the roof of the town hall could be examined.
The Unterschleißheim town hall should possibly be equipped with a solar system.
(Photo: Robert Haas)
Gas heating in the town hall cellar
The town hall in the municipality hair has a photovoltaic system integrated into the roof, which has an annual electricity yield of around 9000 kilowatt hours and is also used to charge the town hall’s electric vehicles, explains Lukas Röder, department head for the environment and waste management in the town hall administration. Otherwise, the town hall – like the community center – receives 100 percent green electricity from hydropower. Both municipal buildings are heated by gas heating, with the one in the town hall also supplying heat to the adjacent Maria Stadler House. The heating in the community center also supplies the adjacent family center. Investigations are currently being carried out into the extent to which a newly installed heating system could be operated with renewable energies.
The electric vehicles are charged with green electricity at the Haarer town hall.
(Photo: Claus Schunk)
According to Röder, the municipal administration also started an internal electricity saving campaign in 2020. A specially founded energy working group found a variety of ways to save energy in the town hall. The underground car park of the town hall was converted to LED lighting. At night, according to Röder, there is only “50 percent emergency lighting” there, with the parking lots of the administration and the Munich city car being equipped with motion detectors. According to Röder, this saves another 9,000 kilowatt hours of energy every year.
In order to determine the energy efficiency of the many municipal properties, an energy consultant submitted a refurbishment roadmap up to the year 2045 to the Haar town hall in the spring. The municipality would therefore have to spend 24.7 million euros to make all 62 affected houses energy-efficient on the basis of the applicable legal regulations. It would cost twelve million euros to give the buildings the better A++ rating. However, which buildings the municipality can actually renovate in the next few years depends on the budgetary situation. However, the town hall and community center are not at the top of the list in the renovation schedule anyway.
District heating, but leaky windows
The town hall in is heated Pullach with district heating since 2007 – the municipality in the Isar valley is a pioneer in geothermal energy in the district of Munich. However, the heat consumption of the Pullach town hall is almost 50 percent higher than the national comparative value for administrative buildings. This is what it says in the municipality’s integrated climate protection concept (IKK), which deals in detail with Pullach’s energy balance. During an inspection of the municipal properties, the municipal climate protection manager Ismael Leitmannstetter found numerous defects in the buildings that impair their energy efficiency. This is how the reasons for the high heat consumption were found at the town hall: the roof, windows and vapor barriers are partially leaky, the underfloor heating does not work properly, the doors of the heated garage are open, heat pumps are not insulated.
Some of the windows and doors in the Pullach town hall are not completely airtight, which has an impact on the energy balance.
(Photo: Claus Schunk)
The Pullach town hall gets its electricity from the Oberhaching municipal works (GWO), explains Fabian Bauer, head of the waste and energy management department at the municipality. According to GWO, almost 88 percent of the electricity mix consists of renewable energies. At 46 kilowatt hours per square meter per year, the town hall’s power consumption is almost twice as high as the national benchmark. This is also due to the fact that the pumps for the local heating supply for the elementary school and the music school are housed in the town hall. In addition, electric heaters and outdated fluorescent tubes are used in the offices on the upper floor. The IKK also certifies that the community center has a comparatively poor energy balance: “This is mainly due to the event hall and the generously dimensioned foyer, which is rather untypical for community centers.” Because of its glazed shell, the foyer is also “difficult to regulate thermally.” The power consumption of the community center is also more than twice the federal reference value for community centers.
Bauer assures that work is being done to improve the energy efficiency of municipal buildings. In 2020, for example, the almost 100 spotlights in the foyer of the community center were replaced by LED models. It is now planned to convert the control technology for lighting and sound systems in the building to be more energy-efficient. The municipality is currently checking whether this project is eligible for funding.
The sustainable new building
In Ashheim there is no need to ask about the town hall’s energy balance: in May, the town hall, which was more than a hundred years old, was demolished. For this reason, the municipal administration is temporarily housed in Saturnstrasse. An architectural firm from Swabia is currently planning the new town hall building. According to Friedrich Frankenfeld, head of the Aschheim building authority, energy efficiency plays a major role in the new building: “The specification for the architects is to design the building in such a way that a very high energy standard, for example in the passive house standard, is achieved during the planning phase In addition, a construction method that is as sustainable and energy-saving as possible should be achieved.” However, more details can only be given when the plans for the new town hall are available.
The old Aschheim town hall is history – the new building should be designed as sustainably as possible.
(Photo: Claus Schunk)
However, the type of energy supply has already been determined: “The former town hall, which has since been demolished, already had a geothermal connection. This will be put back into operation when the new building is completed.” The supplier is the intermunicipal AFK GmbH, which has been supplying the municipalities of Aschheim, Feldkirchen and Kirchheim with geothermal heat since 2009. Electricity from 100 percent renewable energies should also come from the sockets in the new town hall. Frankenfeld states that all other municipal buildings and street lighting have also been supplied in this way. In addition, it is currently being investigated whether a photovoltaic system could be installed on the roof of the community center in the Dornach district of Aschheim and the electricity generated in this way could be used for personal use. This is around 30,000 kilowatt hours per year. The consumption of the tenant in the community center is not included. The annual heat consumption of the community center amounts to around megawatt hours, says Frankenfeld.