Meeting Energy Concept Targets for Residential Retrofits in Germany

This briefing by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) analyzes the economic viability, financial requirements, and energy savings associated with achieving the German government's 2010 Energy Concept targets for residential thermal retrofits. The report focuses on the feasibility of increasing the annual retrofit rate to 2% and the necessity of 'deep' retrofits to meet a target of reducing the building sector's primary energy requirement by 80% by 2050.

• The German government's 2010 Energy Concept aims to reduce the primary energy requirement of buildings by 80% by 2050 and increase the annual thermal retrofit rate from 0.8% to 2%. The 2% target is considered achievable because the current renovation rate for outer walls is already 3%.
• For multi-family houses (MFH), the energy-related incremental costs to reach the energy standard for new buildings range from 80 to 185 EUR/m2. To reduce energy demand to 55% of the new building standard, costs range from 105 to 230 EUR/m2.
• Deep thermal retrofits are economically viable for building owners if they can capture the full benefit of energy savings. In 5 out of 7 reviewed cost estimates, saved energy costs exceed the cost of thermal retrofit. Viability is further ensured across all cost estimates when including public support from the KfW bank.
• The public bank KfW provides subsidies for energy-related incremental costs: approximately one-third for retrofits reaching the new building standard and 50% for those reducing energy demand to 55% of that standard.
• To achieve a 2% annual retrofit rate using current KfW support levels, annual public funding would need to increase to 2-4 billion EUR for retrofits to the new building standard, and 4-8 billion EUR for retrofits reducing energy demand to 55% of that standard.
• Approximately 70% of German residential dwelling units were built before the 1977 energy ordinance and are the primary targets for retrofit. If retrofits average 70% of the new building standard and tighten to 55% by 2015, annual savings by 2020 could reach 110 TWh of energy and 7.5 billion EUR in energy bills.
• Several barriers hinder the adoption of thermal retrofits, despite current financial support; only one-third of renovations currently include thermal retrofits. These barriers include short-termism, the landlord-tenant split, and a lack of familiarity and information.

APA

Neuhoff, K., Amecke, H., Stelmakh, K., Rosenberg, A., & Novikova, A. (2011). Meeting Energy Concept Targets for Residential Retrofits in Germany. Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Costs-Benefits-and-Financial-Support-for-Thermal-Retrofit.pdf

Chicago

Neuhoff, Karsten, Hermann Amecke, Kateryna Stelmakh, Anja Rosenberg, and Aleksandra Novikova. Meeting Energy Concept Targets for Residential Retrofits in Germany. Climate Policy Initiative, 2011. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Costs-Benefits-and-Financial-Support-for-Thermal-Retrofit.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Neuhoff |first1=Karsten |last2=Amecke |first2=Hermann |last3=Stelmakh |first3=Kateryna |last4=Rosenberg |first4=Anja |last5=Novikova |first5=Aleksandra |title=Meeting Energy Concept Targets for Residential Retrofits in Germany |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=May 2011 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Costs-Benefits-and-Financial-Support-for-Thermal-Retrofit.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{neuhoff2011meeting, author = {Neuhoff, Karsten and Amecke, Hermann and Stelmakh, Kateryna and Rosenberg, Anja and Novikova, Aleksandra}, title = {{Meeting Energy Concept Targets for Residential Retrofits in Germany}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2011}, month = may, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Costs-Benefits-and-Financial-Support-for-Thermal-Retrofit.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }