Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
'On the way to the efficient house Plus'
This is a programme for building refurbishments with the same principles as the
'Future Building' programme mentioned above. 'Dena' shows, through pilot
projects, best practice examples of cost-effective energetic refurbishments that
have the potential to be transferred and reproduced. Furthermore, this programme
serves as a tool for the further development of political instruments in this field
(Bigalke et al.
2012
).
3.4.6 Relevant Associations
Associations are funded and formed by private companies and professionals of
each specific operational area. The different associations have the main goal to
increase the share of their specific technologies in the market. For this purpose, the
associations aim to promote the dissemination of information among customers
and stakeholders as well as to strengthen their political importance or impact. They
have a strong political presence and are usually involved in both political relations
and political advice. A selection of relevant agencies related to building tech-
nologies is listed below: (Table
10
).
4 Conclusions
Germany has introduced a clear legislative framework with regard to nearly zero-
energy building refurbishments. The German legislative system is well structured
and organised and is easily accessible. The wide availability of financial instru-
ments facilitates the penetration and further development of nZEB. The most
important support instrument of the German government is the KfW scheme
'Energy Efficient Refurbishment'. Through soft loans and grants, it offers strong
incentives for building owners to refurbish their buildings to a high-performance
standard. However, the current research status regarding a possible nZEB definition
and primary energy requirement is expected to be at a level of about 30 kWh/m
2
a
and such a refurbishment standard is so far not promoted by the KfW.
Nevertheless, the KfW incentive statistics show that already, many high-
performance refurbishments take place in the building stock and the share of most
ambitious building refurbishments is continuously growing. This trend is also
supported by the strong 'Market Incentive Programme for Renewable Energies'
(MAP), which is the main tool for the market expansion of renewable energy
technologies in the domestic energy market. Furthermore, a comprehensive set of
market instruments accompanies the process of high-performance refurbishments.
Information on current legislation, financing possibilities and benefits of high-
performance buildings and renewable energy technologies is provided by minis-
tries, organisations and associations to all actors of the energy market—from
