Building Energy Act 2024: Summary: What’s new?
The new Building Energy Act, which comes into force in 2024, will also see changes to the subsidy landscape. A new BEG guideline is currently being drawn up, the main aim of which is to make it easier to replace heating systems. Please note that this information is based on the current status of discussions as of 18 December 2023 and will be continuously updated. The final directive is due to be published in the Federal Gazette at the end of December. Until official publication, the information is provisional and changes may be made at any time.
Which institution will be responsible for the individual funding programmes in 2024?
From the turn of the year, there will be a significant change in the responsibilities for subsidising heating systems as part of the Federal Funding Programme for Efficient Buildings (BEG). For the most part, this responsibility will be transferred from the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA) to the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW). Only the promotion of building networks, be it their construction, expansion or optimisation, remains the responsibility of BAFA.
Subsidies for efficiency measures, including the building envelope, system technology and heating optimisation, will also remain the responsibility of BAFA. Responsibility for connecting to a building or heating network also remains in the hands of BAFA.
What are the new heating subsidy rates for 2024?
All systems specified in the Building Energy Act (GEG) as fulfilling all relevant criteria are to be subsidised; in the case of hydrogen heating systems, only the additional costs for H2 readiness are likely to be eligible.
There will then be a basic subsidy of 30 % for residential and non-residential buildings for the replacement of heating systems, which will be available to private owners, landlords, companies, organisations, local authorities and contractors regardless of income.
In addition, there is to be an income bonus of 30% for owner-occupiers only, which will be based on a taxable household income of up to a maximum of €40,000 per year.
Furthermore, there is to be a climate speed bonus of 20 %. This bonus will then decrease by 3 % from 2029 onwards. The bonus applies to all owner-occupiers and housing companies whose gas or biomass heating systems are at least 20 years old at the time of application or whose buildings have oil, coal, gas or night storage heating.
There is an efficiency bonus of 5% for heat pumps if the heat source is water, ground or waste water or if a natural refrigerant is used.
A basic subsidy of 30% is available for biomass-fuelled heating systems. Only when combined with a heat pump or a solar system, whether thermal or electric, do you receive an additional speed bonus of 20%.
These bonuses can be combined with the basic subsidy, but may not exceed 70%.
What are the subsidy rates for other individual measures?
The subsidy rate for the building envelope, systems engineering and heating optimisation subsidy segments will remain at 15% as before.
In combination with a refurbishment roadmap, there will be a further subsidy bonus of 5% as before.
What are the maximum eligible costs?
The maximum eligible investment costs for a heating system replacement are 30,000 euros for a single-family home.
For apartment blocks, the limit for replacing the heating system is 30,000 euros for the first residential unit. For the second to the sixth residential unit, the limit is set at 15,000 euros. From the seventh and each additional residential unit, the amount is to be set at 8,000 euros.
This regulation also applies to WEGs (heating replacement)
The maximum limit of eligible costs for heating systems can only be claimed once and not per calendar year.
The following limits apply to non-residential buildings:
30,000 euros for buildings up to 150 square metres net floor area (NFA)
200 euros/sqm net floor area for buildings with > 150 to 400 square metres net floor area
120 euros/sqm net floor area for buildings with > 400 to 1,000 sqm net floor area
80 Euro/sqm net floor area for buildings with > 1,000 sqm net floor area.
The maximum eligible costs for efficiency measures are 60,000 euros per residential unit (if a refurbishment roadmap is available) or 30,000 euros without a refurbishment roadmap. If an owner is not authorised to apply for an individual renovation roadmap (iSFPL) and cannot receive a subsidised iSFPL, the maximum limit of 60,000 euros also applies to them.
For non-residential buildings, the maximum limit of eligible costs for efficiency measures is 500 euros/sqm gross floor area.
The maximum limit applies in addition to the eligible costs for replacing the heating system. In total, this results in a maximum limit of eligible costs of 90,000 euros if the heating replacement and the efficiency measures are carried out with an iSFPL.
The maximum limits for eligible costs apply to measures on the building within one calendar year
The subsidy for efficiency measures can be applied for together or separately with the subsidy for the replacement of heating systems.
The funding limit for heating systems applies including neighbourhood measures. If the maximum eligible costs are reached, environmental measures can be subsidised via the efficiency measures; however, this should then only be possible at the subsidy rates of 15% or 20% (with iSFPL). In purely theoretical terms, a heating system in a detached house could be subsidised to the tune of 90,000 euros (30,000 euros via the heating subsidy and 60,000 euros via corresponding efficiency measures with iSFPL). However, only 20% of the 60,000 euros for efficiency measures can be subsidised (subsidy rate with iSFPL), while the 30,000 euros for heating can be subsidised by 30-70%. you can also calculate your subsidy individually using our online calculator. (Link)
