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The new Buildings Energy Act
Article Building & Housing
The new Buildings Energy Act sets out requirements for the energy performance of buildings, the issuing and application of energy performance certificates, and the use of renewable energy in buildings.
The new Buildings Energy Act was promulgated in the Federal Law Gazette on 13 August 2020. The Buildings Energy Act was put forward by the Federal Government at the proposal of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community. The German Bundestag adopted the Buildings Energy Act on 18 June 2020. The German Bundesrat confirmed this with its decision of 3 July 2020.
The Act comes into force on 1 November 2020. The Energy Conservation Act (Energieeinsparungsgesetz, EnEG), the Energy Saving Ordinance (Energieeinsparverordnung, EnEV) and the Act on the Promotion of Renewable Energies in the Heat Sector (EEWärmeG) which were valid up to now will be replaced by the Buildings Energy Act.
The Buildings Energy Act implements the Coalition Agreement, the decisions reached at the 2018 housing summit and the measures set out in the Climate Action Programme 2030 in regard to energy conservation legislation for buildings.
Like the previous energy conservation legislation for buildings, the new Buildings Energy Act sets out requirements for the energy performance of buildings, the issuing and use of energy performance certificates, and the use of renewable energy in buildings.
The Buildings Energy Act brings together the Energy Conservation Act, the Energy Saving Ordinance and the Act on the Promotion of Renewable Energy in the Heat Sector in a single modern law. It creates a uniform, coordinated body of legislation regulating energy performance requirements for new construction, existing building stock and the use of renewable energy for heating and cooling buildings.
It also fully implements European requirements regarding the total energy performance of buildings and integrates the regulations governing net zero energy buildings into standardised energy conservation legislation. It does not increase current energy performance requirements for new construction and renovation and should not lead to further increases in construction and living costs.
In line with the Climate Action Programme 2030 and the benchmarks it applies, the Buildings Energy Act includes a clause for review of the energy performance requirements for new construction and building stock in the year 2023.
Other major changes:
The Act introduces a new equivalent procedure for demonstrating compliance with energy performance requirements in the construction of residential buildings (the model building procedure for residential buildings).
Another change is that the obligation to use renewable energy in new construction can in future be met by using electricity generated on-site from renewable energy.
The options for meeting energy standards in new construction have also been made more flexible. This applies in particular to the option of counting electricity generated on-site from renewable energy and also from gaseous biomass towards the building’s energy balance.
The primary energy factors to be used in calculating valid annual primary energy requirements are now laid out directly in the Buildings Energy Act. This increases transparency and comprehensibility of primary energy factors for construction clients and owners.
The Buildings Energy Act also introduces a short-term innovation clause. This enables two different things in individual cases.
Firstly, until the end of 2023 it will be possible to apply for a waiver from the relevant authority enabling the certification of the requirements set out in the Buildings Energy Act, which are currently based on the main criterion of valid annual primary energy demand, using a system focusing on limiting greenhouse gas emissions in addition to the valid annual final energy demand, provided that the requirements are equivalent.
Secondly, where alterations are carried out on existing buildings, until the end of 2025 it will be possible for requirements to be met jointly within the neighbourhood based on several buildings. This and the opportunity to reach agreements on shared heat provision in the neighbourhood aim to foster neighbourhood-based strategies, representing new ideas for innovative approaches to energy-efficient construction as fostered by the Buildings Energy Act.
Another new feature is that the carbon dioxide emissions resulting from primary energy demand or primary energy consumption of a building are to be entered in energy performance certificates in future. This adds information to the energy performance certificate that reflects the climate impact of energy use.
A regulation was also introduced limiting the installation of oil heating systems as of 2026, in accordance with the Climate Action Programme 2030. This regulation also applies from 2026 to the installation of new fossil fuel heating boilers.
The Climate Action Programme 2030 also set out the requirement for buyers or owners to undergo an obligatory energy consultation when single- or two-dwelling buildings are sold or are to undergo major renovation.
The Buildings Energy Act also improves the implementing rules. To achieve this, it introduces an “Erfüllungserklärung”, or compliance statement, which is required for new buildings and certain major renovations of the housing stock.
