The Building Energy Act is to be passed in the Bundestag this week – before the summer break. But the wealth of details is great, as is the concern about unsettled consumers.
The heat pump industry fears false incentives and waiting consumers with the controversial “Heating Act”. The uncertainty among property owners is great, said Martin Sabel, Managing Director of the Federal Association of Heat Pumps (BWP), on Monday at an expert hearing on the Building Energy Act (GEG) in the Climate and Energy Committee of the Bundestag. “People are waiting, maybe hoping for better funding,” he warned shortly before the proposed legislation was passed. Contracts for new heat pumps would be cancelled. “This is dangerous.”
Figures from the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control on federal funding for efficient buildings show that new orders for heat pumps from January to May 2023 fell by two thirds compared to the previous year, the association wrote in a statement on the hearing. The number of applications for existing buildings this year was 7,000 to 8,000 heat pumps per month, in 2022 the average was 20,000 per month. At the same time, the number of orders for oil and gas boilers has risen sharply. An “abrupt drop in the installation of renewable heating systems” must be avoided.
Heat pumps are crucial for climate protection, said Sabel. The GEG is suitable to have a steering effect from 2026 and 2028, when the heat planning of the municipalities should be available. “But we’re worried about the time until then.” Some people waited, hoping for better funding in 2024. “People who invest now shouldn’t be penalized.” Transparency about future funding or bringing forward funding is necessary. There must also be relief in the electricity price.
In 2022, 236,000 heat pumps were installed
Markus Staudt, General Manager of the Federal Association of the German Heating Industry, said that if the latest trend in new orders continues, the federal government’s target of 500,000 new heat pumps per year from 2024 will be missed by a wide margin. For comparison: According to industry figures, 236,000 heat pumps were installed in 2022.
This week, the Building Energy Act (GEG) is to be passed in the Bundestag – before the parliamentary summer break, which begins after July 7th. The Climate and Energy Committee is preparing a recommendation on how the plenary session of all MPs should decide.
In essence, the GEG provides that in future only heating systems that can be operated with at least 65 percent renewable energies may be installed in the future. From 2024, the regulations of the GEG will only apply directly to new development areas. For existing buildings, the focal point should be mandatory and comprehensive municipal heat planning. States and municipalities should submit concrete plans on how they want to convert their heating infrastructure in a climate-friendly way – so that owners can decide what to do.
Investment freeze warning
The Federal Association of Consumers welcomed the introduction of an obligation to provide advice when installing fuel heating systems. That is central to protecting people from cost traps, said Jutta Gurkmann, Head of Consumer Policy, at the hearing. The association also welcomed the planned maximum subsidy rate of 70 percent for the purchase of climate-friendly heating systems and the introduction of a cap of 50 cents per square meter and month. This is intended to limit the allocation of costs for heating replacement to tenants. Lukas Siebenkotten, President of the German Tenants’ Association, described the cap of 50 cents as an “extremely positive point”.
Criticism came from the Federal Working Group on Real Estate Management (BID). Subsidies for replacing heating systems must be guaranteed by law for at least ten years. “Without funding, the housing and real estate companies are unable to act.” Rigid limits in tenancy law are also not timely when inflation is high and lead to a halt to investment. BID chairman Axel Gedaschko said that landlords who offer particularly low rents of less than seven euros per square meter per month need support.
Environmental Aid (DUH) expressed criticism. The traffic light coalition is thus giving up the climate targets in the heating sector. The DUH warned of rising operating costs for tenants. If landlords opt for oil or gas heating, which is then to be operated as planned with hydrogen, biomethane or derivatives made from them such as e-fuels, tenants would have to bear the later high fuel costs. Viviane Raddatz from the environmental organization WWF criticized that the GEG in its current form is harmful to the climate.
Source: Stern
