Policy Instruments: The Case of Germany - Nearly Zero Energy Building Refurbishment - page 17

Efficiency Fund' was planned and has finally been established in 2011. Further
details of the Energy Concept are the extension of opportunities for contracting in
the area of rented residential living space and the support of municipalities in
efficiency measures, pilot projects, information and education.
The most important refurbishment and incentive programmes are within the
jurisdiction of the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development
(BMVBS). The BMVBS additionally plans to create tax incentives for the building
sector in order to attract more owner groups for energy-related refurbishments
(BMVBS 2011 ). At the same time, established programs will be further developed
and new priorities will be set. Besides individual buildings, old building quarters in
the inner city have to also become more energy efficient. For this purpose, a
comprehensive construction law amendment has been developed, for example, also
facilitating the approval for photovoltaic systems in buildings. Beyond that, new
incentives for energy efficiency and energy savings on municipal level will take
place, such as the new promotional programme 'Urban energy efficiency rehabil-
itation'. On 15 November 2011, the programme started with a pilot phase in close
collaboration with the communes. The financing resources for this project come
from the 'Energy and Climate Fund' (BMVBS 2011 ; KfW 2011 ).
Figure 1 shows the development of the final energy consumption in the German
building sector since 1990 and until 2020 depending on different refurbishment
rates, and Fig. 2 shows the associated CO 2 emissions.
No separate subtarget has been set for the greenhouse gas emissions in the
building sector. Therefore, the 40 % reduction target specified for all sectors
according to the Coalition Agreement 2009 and the Energy Concept 2010 is
included in the figure.

Fig. 1 Final energy consumption in the German building sector dependent on different

renovation rates, years 1990-2020 (Bettgenhäuser et al. 2012 )