‘The Building Transition’ – a refurbishment campaign

Private homeowners have to deal with a great deal of (sometimes contradictory) information and many stakeholders when it comes to the energy-efficiency refurbishment of detached and semi-detached houses. When trying to identify the relevant refurbishment measures and implement complex projects to a high standard, they may quickly reach their limits.

The entire process must be simplified: by offering information from a single source, bundling existing offers and facilitating contact with qualified energy efficiency experts in the relevant region. To do so, the structural prerequisites must be created. It is important to encourage the individual sectors and players to communicate with one another.

To work towards this goal, the Allianz für Gebäude-Energie-Effizienz (geea) – Alliance for Building Energy Efficiency – launched ‘The Building Transition’ campaign together with dena in 2014. dena was in charge of managing the campaign, which was supported by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) as well as companies and associations from all relevant sectors, ranging from efficient heating technology, thermal insulation and modern windows to renewable energies. Close cooperation with regional energy agencies also ensured that the company was firmly anchored in the different regions. Central components of the campaign were the Internet portal, which offered information across all trades as well as a list of regional energy efficiency experts. More than 250 information events for homeowners were organised in the different regions. In addition, several campaign days were organised under the motto ‘Open for refurbishment’, during which interested visitors could attend a type of open house event at refurbishment projects. In addition, the nationwide ‘Refurbishment Heroes’ storytelling competition was developed and organised as part of the campaign. The campaign was accompanied by intensive press relations and advertising.

The offer as part of the ‘The Building Transition’ (‘Die Hauswende’) campaign made it much easier for homeowners interested in refurbishment projects to get started. In many cases, the decisive impulses that set things in motion were the fact that people could come into contact with regional energy efficiency experts, visit a motivating example from the neighbourhood or access the bundled information on the website. Homeowners and their families enjoy greater living comfort and lower energy costs and see a significant increase in the value of their property once their refurbishment project has been successfully completed. Homeowner were addressed with unified messaging due to the involvement of all the sectors, trades and regional players concerned. It is a pioneering project in Germany and has the potential to actually initiate a ‘small-scale transition’.