On 1 July 2020, Germany took over the six-month presidency of the EU Council. In addition to the priority topic of combating and overcoming the socio-economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, issues relating to the property industry are also in the spotlight. Thies Grothe, Head of Public Affairs at noventic group, answers these questions in an interview.
The federal government’s climate targets pose major challenges for the real estate industry: particularly when it comes to existing buildings, owners and managers face a giant task in coping with the growing demands for energy efficiency and climate protection. The regulatory underpinnings for this are often enshrined both in European law and the resultant derived national legal provisions. In complying with these requirements, without losing sight of precepts of economy and affordable living space, low-investment measures could offer helpful leverage. The digitisation of the building infrastructure lays the foundations for the optimum management of energy installations and maximum consumption transparency for users, as well as allowing portfolio holders also to make valuable efficiency gains.
The Climate Cabinet will be holding its first meeting this week. This newly created body’s remit is to come up with draft legislation whereby Germany will be able to meet its climate targets for 2030 and 2050. What new legislative initiatives the new Climate Cabinet will actually bring about remains doubtful. Similarly doubtful is whether the federal government will finally make climate protection a priority and swiftly get the necessary measures off the ground. That will also take time. As the Environment Ministry’s climate protection report revealed on publication in February, Germany is not doing enough to achieve the 2020 climate protection targets. To push ahead with ambitious climate protection targets, legislative action will be indispensable.
Legal initiatives like the EED were designed to help limit climate change and promote more efficient use of energy. The amended EU Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) was passed by the EU Council of Ministers at the end of last year. A key component of the new directive is the provision of all-year-round consumption information for residents and the requirement to use radio metering technology for consumption recording. What will the ambitious targets set by the amended version of the EED mean for the housing industry? Is there a need to act? Stephan Kiermeyer, CEO of the noventic subsidiary KALO, answers the most pressing questions.
