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Germany has recently passed a budget that will allocate €1.5 billion per year starting in 2012 for retrofits that will improve building energy efficiency and green up urban planning. Being promoted as part of the German Energy Concept, the federal government budget will be promoting three approaches to energy efficiency: require, promote, and inform.
The regulatory aspect will focus on renovation and modernisation of buildings at double the rate of previous budgets, as promulgated through the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU). This will entail tightening minimum-efficiency standards and introducing a long-term renovation schedule for existing buildings, including an amendment of the Energy Saving Ordinance (Energieeinsparverordnung) which will be introduced in 2012.
The government will also be providing economic incentives for energy efficiency improvements, with annual funding of €1.5 billion provided under the CO2 Building Rehabilitation Programme. They list the following as some of the projects encouraged under the funding programme:
- Commercial refrigeration systems, in the framework of the National Climate Initiative. The measures carried out to date have produced electricity savings averaging 40 %.
- Mini-CHP systems, also in the framework of the National Climate Initiative. Due to a lack of budget funding, that programme has currently been suspended, however. It has achieved average CO2 reductions of more than 40 % and – in an especially significant orientation – has promoted the market introduction of pertinent new products for one- and two-family homes, which account for 80 % of existing buildings.
Information will also be a key factor in promoting these energy efficiency improvements. The BMU will be providing energy consultations for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Consumers will also be able to find information online regarding energy saving measures through the "climate looking for protection" ("Klima sucht Schutz") campaign.
For every Euro invested in energy efficiency in Germany in 2010, public authorities collected four to five Euros in revenue, making the reputation of German programs like these quite excellent. Germany is a leader in green building strategies and techniques, providing plenty of inspiration for other countries.
