Climate change mitigation in the building sector: Explanations for stagnating CO2 emissions despite successful renovation measures
Publication date: 9 January 2023 | Report language: DE
With the introduction of sectoral emissions targets in Germany, increasing attention is being paid to the development of CO2 emissions in the different sectors. In the buildings sector, CO2 emissions did not fall as much as expected in the decade 2010-2020. The study commissioned by the thinktank Agora Energiewende examined some of the potential drivers for this development and provided policy recommendations. Technopolis Group and the research institutes ifeu and DIW Berlin used a combination of a buildings model and an econometric analysis of a large panel of heat energy consumption to identify the key drivers for the lack of emissions reductions observed in the buildings sector. The three major drivers identified were an increase in heated living space, limited increases in energy prices and a reduction of price elasticity with respect to the previous decade. The study was published by Agora Energiewende to feed into the coalition talks of the new German government.
