“Big real estate depreciation”: BuVEG boss Hinrichs advises in the “climate laboratory” to energetic renovations

The Building Energy Act (GEG) not only includes heat pumps, but also energetic renovations. But the development is the same after the heated discussions in spring: the renovation rate is currently less than one percent – and is continuing to decline. “At this rate, we would need 100 years for the entire inventory. A bit long if you have set goals for 2045,” says Jan Peter Hinrichs in the “climate laboratory” of ntv.de. According to the managing director of the Federal Association of Energy-Efficient Building Envelopes (BuVEG) only advantages: You save money on energy, do something for climate protection, comfort increases and the property is protected against a large loss in value. Concerns about high investment costs are not an argument for the building lobbyist not to do anything either: You can split up the measure and always do as much as you can afford.

ntv.de: How can you tell the energetic condition of a building?

Jan Peter Hinrichs: You can use the building shell and the window soffits to estimate how thick the insulation is and look at the windows to see whether there are two or three panes of glazing. From this one can roughly deduce the condition.

Is this also used to determine whether a house needs to be renovated?

No, this is just a first look. If you need an accurate assessment, you should contact an energy consultant. He comes by, takes a close look at the house and calculates with a sharp pencil where you can do this or that.

And he then also issues the energy certificate, which is crucial for the renovation? Or does it already have to be available when you are considering buying an apartment or house?

An energy consultant can issue it, but of course it must be available when you buy it – unless it’s a historic building. But if the house is a listed building, one can assume that there will be energy difficulties. But there is also a consumption certificate. You can buy it online, you only have to enter your frame data. But that is dangerous, because user behavior is very important. If you were on vacation for a long time before it was created, this ID card is not very meaningful.

Or if you turned down the heating last winter?

In any case. But you should only turn them off completely in newer buildings. Very old ones tend to mold, especially with bad windows. Then you have damp condensation on the surfaces.

Interest in energy-efficient renovations has only increased in the last few months. Why was no one interested in the Building Energy Act before the discussion?

This obviously depends on the energy costs. When they rose sharply as a result of the Ukraine war, awareness of energy consumption increased, because everyone noticed: it goes straight to the wallet. Tenants are now also looking at their “second rent”, i.e. the additional costs, and thinking: will they increase? Can I afford the apartment in the future in the condition it is in now?

In your considerations as an association, is saving energy in the foreground or is it the fact that we want and have to achieve climate targets?

The big advantage of saving energy is that it helps everywhere. As soon as you have invested, you save money, do something for climate protection and – a great advantage that is unfortunately often forgotten – comfort increases. You can use every square meter of living space and don’t have to avoid the windows in winter because it’s draughty. This problem can be eliminated with a good building envelope.

So headwind is only to be feared from the energy suppliers?

No, no one is yelling just because people are improving their building envelope. This is also due to the fact that we are making very slow progress with the renovation.

In fact, you screamed. Or rather, all associations that are active in the field of heat transition. Because you have the slow pace and a slump in the July renovation rate rolled into one Letter of appeal criticized to the government. Was there a specific reason?

The refurbishment rate is currently less than one percent. This is already a low level, which has been further reduced by the Building Energy Act. The wait-and-see attitude is getting stronger. This is of course a disadvantage if you want to achieve climate targets by 2030.

You mean the discussions about the heat pump?

Exactly. If you read more than headlines and really looked at what the Federal Ministry of Economics wanted to do, the law was not as badly prepared as is always claimed.

An unusual perspective – with a view to building renovation?

Noting that we want to make progress towards climate neutrality by 2030, but the proposed speed is not being adopted. However, over time it becomes increasingly difficult to achieve these goals. What price do you have to pay if you only start in a few years? Is it higher than today?

The longer we wait, the more expensive it becomes because we have to do more in less time.

Yes. The mountain keeps getting steeper. That’s the problem. Because the goals don’t change.

Has the federal government messed up the process in terms of communication?

That’s the point, because the law isn’t new. It has to be said again and again that it was created in 1976. The predecessor was the Heat Insulation Act, then the Energy Saving Ordinance. This resulted in the Building Energy Act, which was erroneously called the Heating Act, although it says so much more than heating. The thing has a total of 114 paragraphs. The Ministry wants to adapt two of them. But these two were a major intrusion in that the inventory was being addressed for the first time. That was never really the case before. And even when there was an obligation to insulate the top floor, it was not checked. It’s different with heaters, that’s where the chimney sweep comes in.

How bad is the drop in the number of applications for restructuring? Do you have to speak of a burglary?

We are seeing a certain reluctance or even a drop in applications for funding. But as I said, we are already at a low level in terms of funding figures. However, it is difficult to quantify exactly how many there are, because refurbishment figures are not recorded exactly. We know approximately how many square meters it is. You could calculate that back, but that number wouldn’t mean anything to anyone.

And this refurbishment rate means that we are currently creating one percent of the buildings per year in the existing stock?

You appreciate that. At this rate, we would need 100 years for the entire stock. A bit long if you have goals for 2045.

What would be necessary and theoretically possible?

In one pilot study We calculated from the German Energy Agency that two percent would be required per year, i.e. a doubling. The problem is that in recent years there has always been too little capacity for renovations because new construction has been very busy. Now there is a slump in new construction and the capacities for renovations are available, but they still don’t start.

And why is that?

That’s a good question to which I unfortunately don’t have a good answer. Maybe the rising interest rates are to blame, although you can always do something successive with the renovations. Also to further develop the property. Because if it is not renovated, we now see a blatant real estate depreciation – in rural areas it is 20 to 30 percent. In the past, people only chose and bought a house or apartment based on its location. It’s over.

Despite this, the number of applications for funding is falling?

Perhaps the funding opportunities are not well known. Subsidy rates were also reduced last year. Those who wanted to renovate their building envelope used to get a 20 percent subsidy. Now it’s only 15 percent. In this difficult situation, this is of course a disadvantage that must be reversed.

Many people keep their hands off such an energetic refurbishment for fear that everything will be far too expensive. What should one expect from these measures?

Giving a rough house number is difficult because some buildings are from the 1990s and others from the 1970s. The square meters are also very different. But you can easily calculate that with an individual renovation schedule. When the energy consultant comes, he makes a recommendation on what to do first: The building envelope? The heating system? What makes sense? Then you can always do as much as you can afford. That’s the advantage, you can piece all the measures together.

And is every single one worth it?

Always. Quite simply for three reasons: Comfort increases with every measure. Second, each saves energy. And third, each preserves the value of the property. This is not the focus of private owners, but especially if you want to bequeath something to your children, it is important that the property retains its value and does not lose value continuously.

Clara Pfeffer and Christian Herrmann spoke to Jan Peter Hinrichs. The conversation has been shortened and smoothed for better understanding.