Federal Construction Minister Klara Geywitz has expressed skepticism about ever stricter energy standards for buildings. She questioned the planned setting of the EH40 efficiency standard from 2025 at the “Real Estate Industry Day” organized by the Central Real Estate Committee ZIA. It is important to look at the entire life cycle of a building and also take into account the emissions that arise during the production of insulation material, explained Geywitz, according to Immobilien Zeitung. She also believes that a “deep renovation” of all single-family homes is unrealistic. “I don’t see how this can be financed,” said the minister.
Commentary by Frank Wojtalewicz
“More flexibility on the way to a more climate-friendly building sector makes a lot of sense. The minister is right when she calls for a holistic view that also includes the energy used for construction or renovation in the calculation. This so-called gray energy accounts for a significant portion of the emissions that a building causes over its life cycle. However, the regulation has not yet taken them into account or has taken them insufficiently into account. With the inclusion of the goal of “transition to a circular economy” in the EU taxonomy, pressure will increase in the coming years to take embodied energy into account in the ecological assessment of a building. We can expect further impetus from this for the important, large-scale inventory renovation that we will experience in the coming decades.”
CEO
d.i.i. Deutsche Invest Immobilien AG