2023-06-13 18:54:42
LIt took a while, but late Tuesday afternoon the time had come: The traffic light coalition agreed on fundamental changes to the draft law on the Building Energy Act (GEG). This means that homeowners are subject to far less strict rules than the draft by Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) and Building Minister Klara Geywitz (SPD) originally envisaged. Not every newly installed heating system will have to run on renewable energies from 2024 onwards. However, tenants must be prepared for an additional modernization fee.
The two-page decision paper of the three government factions stipulates that the obligation to use 65 percent renewables only applies once the respective city has submitted a municipal heating plan. If this is not yet the case, owners should be allowed to install a gas heater again after a heating failure, provided that it can also be converted for use with hydrogen. This should also apply to new buildings outside of new development areas. However, buyers of gas heating should be made aware of a “possible inefficiency”.
Fossil fuels are becoming more expensive
The reason for this is that the CO₂ price will gradually make fossil fuels more expensive. In new development areas, on the other hand, the new regulation of the GEG will take effect as planned, where the use of renewable energy sources for heating will be mandatory from January 2024. According to a draft law by Geywitz, large cities will have to tell their citizens by 2026 exactly where it will be possible to connect to a district heating network. Smaller cities should have until 2028. Owners in more rural regions in particular should be spared the changes for a longer period of time.
The original draft law by Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) and Building Minister Klara Geywitz (SPD) stipulated that every newly installed heating system should be operated with 65 percent renewable energy from 2024 onwards, both in new and existing buildings. Habeck was satisfied with the compromise on Tuesday evening. “The Building Energy Act is coming, the core is preserved,” he said. SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich spoke of a “paradigm shift”, the co-parliamentary group leader of the Greens, Katharina Dröge, of a “milestone for more climate protection”. Owners of existing buildings would now have more “decision time”. FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr emphasized: “There will be no interference with property rights.” The state will also have to take action first before anything changes legally for the citizens. The real estate association ZIA was pleased “that municipal heating planning must first be in place before real estate owners are forced into a corset”. The energy association BDEW said the implementation would be “more practicable for everyone involved”.
Wood and wood pellets remain permitted
The decision paper also stipulates that the installation of heating systems that run on wood or wood pellets should remain permitted “without exception” in order to meet the 65 percent requirement. The draft had envisaged that this would only have been possible in connection with buffer storage and solar thermal energy. Furthermore, the draft law should oblige the municipalities to present a schedule for the ramp-up of hydrogen with intermediate goals in order to ensure the transformation of the gas network. This should have been important to the FDP in particular.
Another new feature is that private and public buildings are to be treated equally. After the original draft law became known, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD), for example, called for exceptions for hospitals. This had drawn much criticism from homeowners associations. But there should be no exception for older homeowners. The planned exemption for owners over the age of 80 is to be “revised”.
What the agreement means for tenants is still unclear. “Tenants should not be charged excessively,” the parties promise in their paper. However, they also announce a “further modernization levy” with which owners can pass on the costs of energy-related measures such as the installation of climate-friendly heating to the tenants. The prerequisite for this levy should be that the owners take advantage of state subsidies and that the tenants also benefit financially from the measures with the additional levy.
The dispute over the GEG had dragged on for weeks. The FDP had provided the cabinet decision with a protocol note in which they called on the parliamentarians to make changes. First the deputy faction leaders negotiated, then the faction leaders. After they failed to reach an agreement on Tuesday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), Habeck and FDP boss and Finance Minister Christian Lindner got involved in the talks.
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