The Climate Protection Target Path for Buildings and the Current Situation

In a discussion with the Parliamentary State Secretaries of the Federal Ministry of Construction and the Federal Ministry of Economics, Sören Bartol and Stefan Wenzel, as well as the director of the Munich Research Institute for Thermal Insulation, Andreas Holm, BDI Deputy Chief Executive Holger Lösch made it clear that the lack of reliability in funding is a major shortcoming. Now that the protracted debate over the Heating Act has ended, citizens finally need to know what level of government support they can reliably count on when undertaking energy-efficient renovations of their homes. Stefan Wenzel acknowledged that this situation must improve significantly. Sören Bartol emphasized that what has been achieved so far—the amendment to the Building Energy Act (GEG) and the Act on Municipal Heat Planning—represents major progress. However, he noted that the GEG process had been handled very poorly. Andreas Holm stressed that the pace of building retrofits in Germany must accelerate significantly in order to still meet the targets set for 2030 and 2045 in the building sector.

Panel I: From Setting Goals to Greater Implementation

In a decidedly controversial exchange, representatives from the governing coalition and the opposition in the German Bundestag discussed ways to achieve greater implementation of climate protection measures during a second panel discussion. Andreas Jung (CDU/CSU) also emphasized the importance of planning certainty, but stressed that this could only be guaranteed if results were achieved through collaboration. Bernhard Herrmann of the Greens stressed that they wanted to continue to make greater use of incentives and that, above all, a positive atmosphere was crucial to the success of the energy and heating transition. Johanna Coleman, chair of the BDI Initiative for Energy-Efficient Buildings, highlighted the need to make the buildings with the worst energy performance—the so-called “worst-performing buildings”—a political priority, noting that building renovations for these structures must be set in motion now. She, too, emphasized the importance of reliable funding to both prevent hardship cases and provide broad support for comprehensive building renovations.

Innovations and Catalysts for the Energy and Heating Transition

In the final panel discussion, the panelists focused on solutions that can be implemented quickly. Representatives from business, academia, and the relevant ministries identified “low-hanging fruit” and low-investment measures that can yield rapid progress. Frank Vossloh of Viessmann expressed the hope that policymakers would generally avoid artificially narrowing the range of possible solutions. He noted that there are cases where a gas heating system—ideally combined with renewable energy—represents the best alternative for a heating system in need of replacement. Bert Oschatz from ITG Dresden agreed with this assessment regarding pellet heating systems, even though it is clear that these systems do not cover a wide range of applications. Alexander Renner, from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs, highlighted the opportunities for converting buildings to use electricity, while Uwe Großmann, vice chair of the BDI Initiative, emphasized that building automation could achieve an average energy savings of 25 percent and that raising awareness must be a key objective.

In closing, all participants issued an appeal not to underestimate the urgency of taking action in light of the established climate protection goals. To this end, they said, what is needed now above all is more public information and better political communication.