The German government has ambitious climate targets, particularly in the area of the heating transition. This poses major challenges for cities and the housing industry, as heating accounts for a large proportion of total energy demand at around 54%. However, the share of renewable energies in heat generation is low at 14%. The low renovation rate in the housing stock and the long lifetimes and depreciation periods of renovations make it difficult to achieve the emission reduction targets in the building sector.
In view of the fact that half of the living space in Germany is rented out, cooperation between property owners and tenants is crucial. Tenants often have no influence on refurbishment measures, but bear high operating costs in the absence of energy-efficient refurbishment. It is therefore important to create economic incentives for landlords to carry out refurbishments, but at the same time not to place a disproportionate burden on tenants when passing on modernization costs.
However, the current framework conditions for a socially responsible heating transition are inadequate, as demonstrated by the currently unresolved landlord-tenant dilemma regarding the benefits arising from building refurbishment and the cost distribution of refurbishment measures, as well as the insufficient consideration of sustainability and renewable energy criteria in tenancy law. A participatory approach to the socially responsible heat transition process in neighborhoods, which networks local stakeholders, enables information exchange and self-empowerment and involves tenants in decision-making processes at an early stage, is therefore crucial. This promotes acceptance of the heating transition, accelerates its implementation and enables tenants to understand their influence on operating costs and CO2 emissions and to actively protect the climate through building-appropriate usage behavior. Participation is therefore a fundamental building block for a successful, forward-looking and socially acceptable heating transition.
Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI