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Many people have decided they want to give up something during Lent. Why not cut down on your energy consumption? Learning to be more mindful about your energy consumption has many benefits. Not only does it help bring down our energy consumption, it also saves your cash and is good for the climate.

In the case of energy, cutting down on your consumption does not have to make you a Scrooge. You can save energy and still enjoy a well-lit and well-heated home. Energy-efficient retrofitting helps cut down on energy consumption whilst making your home even more comfortable. In many cases, it will allow you to lower your primary energy consumption (oil and gas) by up to 80 per cent. Over the next two decades alone, roughly half of Germany’s building stock will need modernising. So why not improve your home's energy performance at the same time?

The idea has caught on

If you decide to go for it, the government will support you. This applies regardless of whether you are having your home retrofitted, a heating system installed that is based on renewables, or a new energy-efficient home built. The figures for 2015 show that more and more people are becoming aware of this.

Last year alone, the KfW programmes for energy-efficient construction and retrofitting leveraged investments worth just under 40 billion euros – that's roughly 22 per cent more than in the year before. This investment was used to retrofit and build some 381,000 apartments and close to 800 non-residential buildings. The figure for the last ten years is more than 4.1 million apartments and more than 2,900 non-residential buildings. This also benefits many small and medium-sized companies. After all, the lion's share of the construction contracts is awarded to local craft businesses. This helps safeguard and create around 300,000 jobs in SMEs and in the crafts sector.

Heating systems that rely on renewable energy are also on the rise: the amount of grants claimed following the improvements made to the Market Incentive Programme in April 2015 is higher than in the year preceding the changes. The Market Incentive Programme, under which more than 300 million euros is up for grabs every year, has become the key instrument driving the development of renewables in the heating market. Between 2006 and 2015, more than 1.1 million heating systems were installed with support from the programme.

More funding – good for you!

The goal is to see to it that this trend continues. This is why the funding envelope of the programmes has been further expanded. Last year, for instance, an additional €200 million was made available under the KfW programmes for energy-efficient construction and retrofitting. This brings the total funding available up to an annual €2 billion up to 2018. This is an all-time record. As a result of this, the rules governing the KfW programme for energy-efficient construction will change as of April 2016. The maximum sum available per residential unit will be doubled from €50,000 to reach €100,000, and it will be possible to have a fixed-interest rate over twenty years. Furthermore, a new funding standard has been introduced for "KfW Efficiency Houses" to be constructed. Fifteen per cent of it comes as a repayment grant.

A new Incentive Programme for Energy Efficiency was introduced on 1 January 2016 to create additional momentum and promote the use of efficient solutions that are based on a combination of various measures. Then there is the heating package designed to speed up the energy transition in the heating market. Now, funding has been increased for those who have made the decision to swap their old boilers for a new and efficient one and also improve the overall efficiency of their heating systems. There is also more funding available for anyone who has a ventilation system fitted and at least some insulation work done or their windows replaced at the same time. This "ventilation package" is especially designed to prevent mould and other damage, and to improve your home's indoor climate. The new funding opportunities introduced as part of the Incentive Programme for Energy Efficiency have been integrated in existing programmes, rendering these even more attractive.

One last word: Making your home energy-efficient is not as hard as you may think. Please consult this brochure (German only) to find out how to go about retrofitting, about the various programmes and funding opportunities, and about what else to watch out for.