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Cost reduction of refurbishments can increase the rate of modernisation, especially in rural and lower income areas

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The energy requirements for new buildings in both the private and commercial sectors are becoming continually more stringent as a result of technical developments and political objectives. However, since each year only 1% of the buildings in Germany are new build, there is still a lot of potential for energy-saving measures to be implemented in the building sector in the foreseeable future. Such measures are often not adopted due to a lack of knowledge or a lack of well-informed consultants.

As part of the 3 Prozent Plus research project, tools for mixed ownership structures are now being developed with which the cost-efficient and economically feasible modernisation of buildings can be achieved. These will be investigated and applied in four selected residential areas (including large and small towns). The project will concentrate on identifying ways of raising the total annual refurbishment rate to three per cent (of the buildings in the selected district). The project will focus explicitly on rural areas, which do not benefit to the same extent from rising demand as do large conurbations. The technologically outdated infrastructure of these residential areas will also be analysed. The project will be divided into three areas:

- the exchange of experience and providing independent technological advice for refurbishment work, including the preparation of a schedule for the technological progression and cost management.
- identifying possibilities for the integration of thermal and electrical storage depots in the selected districts.
- implementing refurbishment schedules by accompanying pilot projects as well as offering specific advice to the municipalities involved.

In addition to implementing these pilot measures, the knowledge acquired in the process will be shared and disseminated within the scope of the IEA working groups (Annex 75 – Cost-effective Building Renovation at the District Level Combining Energy Efficiency & Renewables and the Working Group on Cities and Communities). In addition, the research partners will share their findings with other project partners from Germany, Austria and Switzerland and make them available to the general public.