Entries tagged with "Energy efficiency"

Passive house

A passive house is a highly efficient building (residential or otherwise) that “passively” uses solar heat (sunshine) to drastically reduce the need for “active” heating and cooling, such as from an air conditioner and heating system.

Energy poverty

Energy poverty is the lack of adequate warmth, cooling, lighting and the energy to power appliances. More than 50 million households in the EU are impacted by energy poverty.

KFW – Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau

Germany’s main development bank is the KfW, which stands for “Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau” (in English, Credit Institute for Reconstruction). Established as a part of the German Marshall plan in 1948, it is a key player in the German and international Energiewende.

Digitalization

Digitalization when referring to the energy sector is about the collection and analysis of data on energy use. It can range from being able to track your power consumption online to the ‘internet of things’ where devices from toasters to thermostats communicate and interact.

Primary energy

Primary energy is the amount of energy put into a supply system, as opposed to the “useful energy” that the supply system outputs to consumers.

Technology for sustainability

Germany has resolved to replace fossil and nuclear energy with renewables – but the process is more complicated than that. Most of all, it involves lower energy consumption through efficiency and conservation and requires that energy consumption be tailored to availability. And in addition to all of this, people who used to be mere consumers will increasingly also become energy producers (“prosumers”).

Efficient Building Strategies

Germany began building highly efficient passive houses in 1990. But although many buildings can now be renovated to fulfill very ambitious standards, a lot of progress still needs to be made towards increasing the energy efficiency of renovated buildings. To improve things, Germany has developed an Efficient Building Strategy.

Renewable Energy Heat Act

Germany’s Renewable Energy Heat Act aims to increase the share of renewable heat to 14 percent by 2020. New building owners are obligated to get a certain share of their heat from renewable energy, and owners of old building get financial support for renovations.

Strengthening local economies

Local ownership of renewables provides great economic payback to investing communities. In the long run, energy efficiency and renewables together make energy cheaper for everyone.