What makes an Efficiency Houses Plus?

With its Efficiency House Plus initiative, the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community is giving new impulses to research and development in the field of energy-efficient building. At the same time, the principles of economy, technological freedom, simplification and the voluntary aspect of measures continue to apply. Furthermore, the Efficiency House Plus building standard allows a high level of design freedom. This brochure provides information on the results achieved so far.

One of the key elements of Germany‘s Energiewende, the transformation of the energy system, is establishing a new approach to energy in the construction sector and in the home. It will only be possible to achieve a virtually climate-neutral building stock by 2050 if we gradually bring new technologies to the market that provide the highest level of efficiency – both in terms of energy and cost. The Efficiency House Plus is a development that offers a valuable and innovative way of achieving this in the buildings sector.

The scheme demonstrates how buildings in the future can work as micro power plants that, calculated over the entire year, produce more energy than they use without compromising aesthetic appeal or quality of life. The idea is to use the surplus energy for electromobility or for the neighbourhood’s energy needs.

The aim of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety is not just to carry out one-off beacon projects but to work within a network of different solutions to try out and optimise different technologies. Overall, 35 buildings are currently part of the Efficiency House Plus network and of a scientific monitoring programme.