Expert discussion “The cumulative energy expenditure as a funding criterion in the building sector”

In an intensive expert discussion as part of the project “The cumulative energy expenditure as a funding criterion in the building sector”, which IREES is working on for the Federal Environment Agency, Jana Deurer and Jan Steinbach discussed the cumulative energy expenditure of different building types, construction methods and energy standards with representatives from practice, science and politics. The discussion focused on the extent to which cumulative energy consumption can be used as a criterion for funding and how climate-friendly construction can be put into practice.

The central findings of the expert discussion were:

• Climate-friendly building has not yet arrived in practice and existing regulations/subsidy programmes are perceived as complex.
• The energy-efficient refurbishment of existing buildings is the most important lever for reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in the construction and building sector
• The existing energy efficiency standard in the Building Energy Act for new buildings is not sufficient to meet the goals of the Climate Protection Act
  However, grey energy in the production of building materials and technical building equipment must not be neglected and could be addressed by a separate characteristic value, just like building efficiency in operation.
• Grey energy can be reduced through the use of recycled materials and should therefore be promoted and facilitated in building regulations.
• In order to promote the market development of renewable raw materials, the CO2 storage capacity of materials could be a criterion for funding.

We thank all participants for the exchange and the stimulating discussion.

To the project page ➡Here