Status: 02/22/2022 03:09 a.m
At the end of January, the federal government had stopped the energy efficiency subsidy of the state KfW-Bank – which caused heavy criticism. Now the program is partially resumed. An overview.
Why is there a new grant at all?
Surprisingly, the federal government announced on January 24th that the then energy efficiency promotion by the state-owned KfW would be stopped with immediate effect – one week before the end that was actually planned. According to Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens), the reason was that the funds for the continuation of the program had been exhausted. Apparently too many interested parties had submitted an application with a view to the expiring deadline. In addition to the promotion of new buildings according to the KfW efficiency standard EH55 and the stricter EH40 standard, the freeze also affected energy-related renovations of buildings. This could result in a wave of lawsuits against the federal government.
What is funded now?
In the future, there will again be money from the state on application for the energy-efficient renovation of existing buildings if it is a question of converting them into an efficiency house or efficiency building. Up to the surprising stop, the efficiency house levels 40, 55, 70, 85 and 100 had been funded. According to the ministry, the funding conditions for renovation measures remain “unchanged”.
What do the individual energy efficiency levels mean?
The smaller the key figure, the lower the energy requirement of the property. A reference building that meets the requirements of the Building Energy Act (GEG), the so-called low-energy building standard, serves as a benchmark. Compared to the reference building of the GEG, the efficiency house 55 requires only 55 percent of the primary energy.
In what energetic condition are the existing buildings in Germany?
A good two percent of real estate in Germany is in the best A+ level, which is even stricter than the A level, in which the efficiency house 40 is grouped. Buildings in efficiency class 55 are part of class B. The average residential building in Germany only achieves efficiency class E and consumes around four times as much energy as buildings in class A. Almost every fifth building in Germany is an energy waster of the worst class H.
How much money is available?
Last week, the federal government, together with the budget committee of the Bundestag, made new funds available for federal funding for efficient buildings (BEG) in the amount of around 9.5 billion euros. According to the Ministry of Economics, the money should be used both for processing the old applications submitted before January 24th and for the resumption of the renovation subsidy.
What will be funded again soon?
The promotion of new buildings according to efficiency house level 40 is also to be reintroduced. However, according to Habeck, the funding for this energy standard will be limited in time from March and capped at one billion euros.
What is no longer funded?
The EH55 subsidy for new buildings was finally discontinued with the new subsidy package on January 24th. According to experts, this energy efficiency class has established itself as the de facto standard for new buildings anyway. It is considered to be relatively easy to reach.
When can the new funding be applied for?
From Tuesday, February 22, new applications can be submitted to KfW again.