The construction industry screamed so loudly it was as if climate protection minister Robert Habeck had swung himself onto the demolition excavator and all the new buildings in the country collapsed.

The Green Vice-Chancellor only canceled dubious state aid for climate-friendly construction measures because the planned budget had been exhausted.

The end was overdue.

At the digital housing construction day, an industry summit, Habeck will probably hear again this Thursday that the climate target is now at risk, as is the government plan to build 400,000 new apartments a year.

For builders, the planning actually becomes a nightmare if, shortly before the application is submitted, a state subsidy is no longer available and the financing of the home thus fluctuates.

From an individual perspective, the anger about this is all too understandable.

But there is no right for the state to co-finance private house construction.

The discontinued federal funding for efficient buildings (BEG) from the state development bank KfW is no longer considered start-up financing for new technologies.

But last year it cost around 6 billion euros in tax money for the Efficiency House 55 alone.

Habeck rightly says that the state has promoted standards in new construction, according to which construction is carried out anyway.

Building sector misses climate target

Despite the billions in funding, which includes more than just the parts that have been discontinued, the building sector in Germany has failed to meet the state climate targets.

While the greenhouse gas emissions for industry and transport fell below the set upper limit in 2020 as a result of the corona pandemic, the buildings remained slightly above it.

According to the Federal Environment Agency, the building sector produces around 119 million tons of emissions.

The value has remained around this level for six years, but is expected to almost halve to 70 million tons by 2030.

The measures taken so far have achieved little.

It is therefore foreseeable that the climate target will be missed in the coming years.

The benefit of the construction subsidies is doubtful because they are based on the theoretical energy consumption of the individual building.

Before construction, an estimate is made of how much the planned building falls short of the energy consumption of a reference building.

The state development bank KfW then rewards this with a substantial subsidy.

However, how much energy a household actually consumes depends on many more factors and behavior: How often is the room ventilated, cooked and bathed?

how cold is it outside

And how warm should it be inside?

It does little to protect the climate if the house is well insulated but the residents open the windows more often.

Habeck's demolition of the previous programs creates space for a new funding scheme that better takes climate targets and actual energy consumption into account.

Four years ago, the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB) called for the target to be CO2 emissions and not primary energy requirements.

The basis of all evaluations, specifications and control mechanisms should also be based on actually measured consumption data.

There is no way around a higher CO2 price

Instead of financing new buildings, the government should also focus on older existing buildings when it comes to climate protection.

It is more difficult to reduce energy consumption in older buildings.

But progress here and in the expansion of renewable energies should be decisive for climate protection.

In general, emissions trading reduces emissions best.

The government should also intensify this system for the building sector and expand it at European level.

However, the traffic light alliance does not want to increase the national CO2 price for heating oil and natural gas.

Here, however, lies a lever for the emission-reducing heat transition.

If fossil heating in houses becomes more expensive, a conversion is more worthwhile than before.

Various model scenarios therefore calculate with a high CO2 price, which reduces greenhouse gas emissions in the building sector.

On the climate path, there is no way around a higher CO2 price.

After the demolition, the traffic light government has to hurry to reorganize the funding.

Habeck should present his climate plan in the building sector by summer at the latest.

The longevity of the approximately 21 million buildings in Germany requires rapid action.

The foundation for the targeted climate neutrality by 2045 is now being laid.

Not only the construction industry is expecting a topping-out ceremony soon.