German Buildings Not as Cold as You Think

August 22nd, 2011 by Charis Michelsen

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German citizens must get colder every winter — according to co2online GmbH, the amount of energy used to heat residential buildings has decreased by 22% since 2002, sinking from 161 kWh/m2/year to 126 kWh/ m2/year. The company claims it has collected data from over a million homes.

Johannes Hengstenberg, CEO of co2online, is enthusiastic about the downward slide. “This shows a positive trend in developing energy-efficient residences in Germany, and simultaneously provides incentive to increase energy conservation efforts,” he said. “The legal requirements for new buildings and renovation of existing buildings are to thank for the current level of conservation.” Hengstenberg also thinks that many more old buildings — the bulk of the structures analyzed — have further potential for energy conservation.

However, Germany has a long way to go to reach its stated climate protection goals by 2020; the current rate of improvement is insufficient. Co2online feels that a three-fold approach consisting of requests, promotion, and information is necessary to motivate the citizens. To help address the issues of promotion and information, they sponsor the site www.heizatlas.de — energy consumption and building renovations in individual states, counties, and municipalities.

Co2online is a non-profit limited liability company campaigning to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide.

Source: Pelletshome

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Tags: cold, conservation, Electricity, Energy, energy-efficent home, german, Germany, heat, home, house, residence, residential building

About the Author

Charis Michelsen spent 7 years living in Germany and Japan, studying both languages extensively, doing translation and education with companies like Bosch, Nissan, Fuji Heavy, and others. Charis has a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and currently lives in Chicago, Illinois. She also believes that Janeway was the best Star Trek Captain.

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http://www.facebook.com/people/Ralph-Spurlock/100000343457156 Ralph Spurlock

FHA 203K for energy efficiency, would something similar to this program work in Germany?

Under the FHA EEM Program, a borrower can
finance into the mortgage 100 percent of the cost of eligible energy efficient
improvements, subject to certain dollar limitations, without an appraisal of the
energy improvements and without further credit qualification of the borrower.
To be eligible for inclusion into the mortgage, the energy efficient improvements
must be “cost effective,” i.e., the total cost of the improvements
(including maintenance costs) must be less than the total present value of the
energy saved over the useful life of theimprovements. The cost of any improvement
to the property that will increase the property’s energy efficiency and that is
determined to be “cost effective” is eligible for financing into the mortgage and
its cost may be added to the mortgage amount up to the greater of:5 percent of the
property’s value (not to exceed $8000) or, 2)$4000.