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dena’s pilot project „Efficient Homes“
Great savings potential in the refurbishment of existing buildings.
Existing buildings currently require on average three times as much energy for heating as new buildings. However, despite rising energy prices, full advantage is not being taken of the potential which exists for saving energy when refurbishments are carried out.
That‘s why, in 2003, the Deutsche Energie-Agentur GmbH (dena) - the German Energy Agency - initiated the pilot project ”Efficient Homes” As part of the project, over 330 buildings have so far been refurbished for high energy efficiency (in some cases highly innovative passive house components were used) and now reach an energy requirement as much as 60 percent lower than the level required in new buildings. This means that the model project has successfully passed its field test, and that dena has sent out a signal for the future: since 2007, dena‘s energy standard that requires the energy consumption of the refurbished building to be 30 percent less than that of a comparable new building has become a fixed component of the CO2- Building Rehabilitation Programme of the Federal Promotional Bank (KfW Förderbank).
The refurbishment projects from dena—as examples of best practice along with transferable, economically viable recommendations for refurbishment—provide an incentive for others to follow suit. The accompanying public relations work and distribution of information speeds up the transfer of expertise as well as the market introduction of innovative technologies for energy-efficient building refurbishment.
Housing companies, architects, professional planners and energy consultants can make use of the experience gained through the model project to reach a higher level of energy efficiency in future refurbishment projects.
When existing buildings are refurbished, more than half of the energy-saving potential which is already affordable today is not taken advantage of. dena‘s aim in its model project „Efficient Homes“ is therefore to define and try out standards which are both ambitious in terms of energy and easy to implement, and in the long term to introduce them to a wide market.
Up to now, 143 buildings have been refurbished as “low energy buildings“. On average, they cut energy use by around 50 percent of the level required by the EnEV for comparable new buildings. In total, the project encompasses more than 2,230 residential units over an area of more than 138,000 m2. Approximately 49 percent of the buildings belong to the housing industry, 24 percent are owned by private tenants, and 27 percent belong to single-family or two-family house owners.
The entire construction phase is supported and evaluated scientifically. It has already been proven that the energy requirement can be cut by an average of 80 percent through energy-saving design; and dena‘s standards show that energy-efficient refurbishments are not only technically feasible but also make sense in economic terms.
Energy-saving construction and refurbishment and sustainable utilisation concepts are essential elements for ensuring the value and attractiveness of homes and property in the long term, increasing independence from energy price hikes, and contributing towards climate protection.
Goals
The goals are, by means of best-practice projects:
- to speed up the transfer of expertise,
- to spread knowledge of innovative technologies for energy refurbishment, to develop these further an to introduce them into the market and
- by way of transferable, economically-viable refurbishment recommendations, to encourage to follow suit.
Regional networks
In order to reinforce the domino effect of energy-efficient building refurbishment, dena has set up a successful network of existing regional centres of expertise.
Press and public relation
Another focus of the model project is press and public
relations work and the distribution of information:
- Establishing the „dena regional dialogue“ series of events (30 events since 2005 with an average of 150 participants)
- “1st day of the open low-energy house“ for nationwide information on 16/06/2007
- Articles and television reports
- Website with a knowledge database, expert information on energy-efficient refurbishment, and presentation of the refurbishment projects: www.zukunft-haus.info
- interactive CD all about energy-efficient refurbishment especially for the constructors of single-family houses and smaller apartment buildings
- Information leaflets for specialists and end users
Achievements and future prospects
Due to its resounding success, the dena model project with the standard that requires the energy consumption of the refurbished building to be 50 percent less than that of a comparable new building is being continued in 2007 as an official component of the CO2 Building Rehabilitation Programme of the promotional bank (KfW Förderbank). Also in 2007, a similar model project is being started for non-residential buildings: “Efficient Schools”.
Partners
The dena pilot project is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs (BMVBS), by BASF AG, and by the National Association of
the German Energy and Water Industry (bdew).
