Residential buildings strongly contribute to global CO2 emissions due to the high energy demand for electricity and heating, particularly in industrialised countries. Within the EU, decentralised heat generation is of particular relevance for future climate policy, as its emissions are not...

The political discussion on energy efficiency is focusing more and more on the building sector due to its susceptibility to potential market failures like the negative external pollution effects of CO2 emission. Using a discrete choice approach, this paper aims at deriving factors which increase...

Residential heating accounts for almost one-fifth of Germany's final energy consumption. This report evaluates an extensive database of heating bills for buildings with two or more apartments, representing more than two-thirds of the total housing stock in Germany. Despite commitments to...

Residential heating accounts for almost one-fifth of Germany's final energy consumption. This report evaluates an extensive database of heating bills for buildings with two or more apartments, representing more than two-thirds of the total housing stock in Germany. Despite commitments to...

Das Beheizen von Wohnräumen macht fast ein Fünftel des Endenergieverbrauchs in Deutschland aus. Der vorliegende Bericht wertet einen umfangreichen Datenbestand von Heizenergieabrechnungen von Zwei- und Mehrfamilienhäusern in Deutschland aus - diese repräsentieren mehr als zwei Drittel des...

Despite a common EU directive on energy efficiency in residential buildings, levels of energy efficiency differ vastly across European countries. This article analyses these differences and investigates the effectiveness of different energy efficiency policies in place in those countries. We...

The German government aims at a climate-neutral building stock by 2050 to reach the goals defined in the Climate Action Plan 2050. Increasing the energy efficiency of existing buildings is therefore a high priority. For this purpose, investments of private homeowners will play a major role since...

Die Emissionsminderung im Gebäudesektor ist ein zentraler Baustein der deutschen Energie- und Klimapolitik. Jährlich wertet das DIW Berlin die Entwicklung des Heizenergiebedarfs in deutschen Wohngebäuden anhand eines umfangreichen Datenbestands aus. In diesem Jahr werden zudem die daraus...

Improving the energy efficiency of residential buildings is of paramount importance to reduce CO2 emissions and hence to achieve a climate-neutral building stock - the objective of the German government for 2045. Thereby, a focus on the existing building stock is needed, as regulations for new...

The German government has committed to reducing the primary energy demand of buildings by 80% by 2050. Achieving this reduction will require foremost efficiency improvements, with a first milestone of a 20% reduction in heat demand levels by 2020. Given that about 80% of today’s building stock...