Trillions for climate protection: Germany's real estate urgently needs renovation!

Trillions for climate protection: Germany's real estate urgently needs renovation!

A current study shows that an investment of around 1.4 trillion euros will be required by 2050 for the climate-friendly conversion of all German residential properties. These findings come from Allianz Research and Allianz Trade and were published by Newsmagazine Mercury published. In Germany, residential buildings alone cause around 14 percent of CO2 emissions, without taking indirect emissions into account, which underlines the urgency of these investments.

The study takes a comprehensive approach: investments totaling around 3 trillion euros will be necessary in the four largest European economies - Germany, France, Italy and Spain - by 2050. For the German housing sector, which can make a critical contribution to reducing greenhouse gases, around half of this sum, i.e. 1.4 trillion euros, goes to renovations and energy efficiency improvements.

The role of the building energy law

A central element of this conversion is the Building Energy Act (Heating Act), which stipulates that newly installed heating systems must be powered by at least 65 percent renewable energy. However, the CDU, CSU and SPD parties announced in the coalition agreement that they would abolish this law. The future direction in this area remains uncertain.

The climate-friendly conversion could also bring economic advantages. It is estimated that property prices could increase by around 0.5 percentage points, while value added in the real estate sector could increase by one trillion euros by 2050. This could create around 107,000 new jobs and reduce the unemployment rate by an average of 0.2 percentage points.

Sanctions and investments in renovation

To make these changes possible, a mix of higher carbon prices, financial support and improved political frameworks is needed. The current CO2 price of 55 euros per ton would have to be raised to over 300 euros per ton in order to realize cost savings in the building sector.

Additional information on the climate impact of building renovations can be found in a short study by the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB). Haufe published. This study shows that new buildings are necessary, but are usually associated with significantly higher CO2 emissions than renovations. In these cases, CO2 emissions are 50 to 66 percent lower than in new buildings, which underlines the effectiveness of renovation measures.

The DGNB study analyzes the life cycle assessments of 19 certified renovation projects and encourages early renovations. The ecological impact varies depending on the type of renovation, which requires individual analyzes for each project. These findings should serve as a basis for political decisions to promote the preservation of the existing building stock.