In recent years, the energy saving regulations for residential and commercial properties have been updated and have been in force since May 1, 2014. Are you a property seller or buyer and unsure what this change means for you? We provide you with an overview of the most important changes.
The energy performance certificate
The last revision of the EnEV (Energy Saving Ordinance) was in 2009. One important change was particularly relevant for property owners. Since then, when selling, leasing, or renting commercial buildings, they have been required to present an energy performance certificate to their customers (buyers, tenants). This provides an overview of the overall energy efficiency and categorizes properties in terms of energy consumption. This has many advantages – it makes it easier for prospective buyers, tenants, or lessees to assess in advance any renovation measures that may be necessary or energy costs that may arise.
Fundamental changes
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New buildings: For new buildings, the EnEV 2016 will bring stricter requirements for overall energy efficiency. These requirements will be tightened by 25%. Compared to 2009, the primary energy demand of new buildings must be at least 25% lower. Furthermore, the requirements for thermal insulation are becoming more stringent. New buildings must therefore be 20% better insulated so that heat losses are lower than in previous years.
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Old buildings: Changes here mainly relate to boilers (liquid or gaseous fuels). These must be removed after 30 years if they were installed after January 1, 1985. If they were installed before this date, they must be taken out of service from 2015 onwards. Some owner-occupied single-family and two-family homes and condensing and low-temperature boilers are exempt from this change and are not affected.
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Addition of energy efficiency classes from A+ to H to the tape speedometer: The tape speedometer in the energy performance certificate will also be rescaled for residential buildings up to 250 kWh/(m²a) and the modernization recommendations will be reinforced.
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Sellers and landlords of real estate: Are obliged to provide buyers/tenants with the energy performance certificate, which must be presented at the time of viewing.
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Energy performance indicators: When renting or selling a property, these must be stated in real estate advertisements in future. In addition, a corresponding classification must be listed if an energy performance certificate with an energy efficiency class is available.
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Display requirement: For public buildings with a usable floor space of 250 m² or more and corresponding private buildings with a usable floor space of 500 m² or more, the display requirement for energy performance certificates has been extended.
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The primary energy factor: The primary energy factor for electricity will be reduced to 2.4 and to 1.8 from 2016.
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Random checks: From EnEV 2016, random checks for energy performance certificates will be introduced.
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Control system for air conditioning systems: A control system will be introduced for inspection reports on air conditioning systems.
Important for real estate providers
Landlords and sellers must already provide information on the energy performance certificate of the property in question in real estate advertisements in accordance with §16a of the Energy Saving Ordinance. The energy performance indicators refer to the living space. They are also obliged to hand over the energy performance certificate to buyers/tenants, which must be presented during the viewing. The energy efficiency class stated in the energy performance certificate of the building is intended to encourage consumers to regard it as a useful tool and source of information.
From May 1, 2014, additional mandatory information will apply to commercial real estate advertisements, which can be found in the table. Further information and relevant information for download can be found here: EnEv 2014
Source: Gewerbelexikon
