Policy Instruments: The Case of Germany - Nearly Zero Energy Building Refurbishment - page 15

Policy Instruments: The Case of Germany

Sven Schimschar

Abstract Buildings in Germany are responsible for more than 40 % of the total
final energy consumption. The government already acknowledged the importance
of the building sector in the late 1970s and thus started to develop a comprehensive
policy framework. On an international level, Germany is especially known for its
successful KfW incentive programmes related to energetic refurbishments of
buildings that achieved significant reductions in terms of energy and emissions.
But these programmes are just one piece of the entire framework. Thus, this
chapter describes all parts of the policy framework that relate to the energetic
refurbishment of buildings. It starts by describing the current status of a national
nearly zero-energy building definition before presenting all relevant strategies
and concepts including the targets of the government. After that, the regulatory
policies, including the national building code the 'Energy Saving Ordinance' and
the 'Renewable Energy Heat Law', are introduced before having a detailed look at
the financial incentive programmes related to energy-related refurbishments and
finally describing the most important market instruments.

1 Introduction

Buildings are responsible for about 44 % of the German energy consumption, of
which space heating and domestic hot water represent the most significant share
of about 75 % (BMWI 2011b ). The most crucial issue is the energy inefficiency of
the existing building stock, of which three quarters were constructed before the
first 'Thermal Insulation Ordinance' in 1977. The improvement in the building
envelope through energy-related refurbishments, the slow replacement of heating