Shortly before Easter, the government's blessing of money for house builders returned.
Anyone who furnishes their home in a largely climate-friendly way will receive a subsidy for the Efficiency House 40 as new construction funding from the state development bank KfW and from the house of the Green Climate Minister Robert Habeck.
But the volume of 1 billion euros by the end of the year is not enough for the industry.
A wail can be heard that this is just a drop in the bucket.
So if this expensive contribution really just fizzles out in the construction industry, the state has to consider whether it can't do anything better with the taxpayers' money.
Because from the point of view of climate protection, too, state subsidies are better applied to existing buildings than to new buildings: In old buildings, the insulation is not always sufficient,
more fossil heating systems are installed and the overall climate balance is worse during operation.
In addition, this money for new construction hardly goes beyond the deadweight effect if it helps those who would build anyway.
The client can still be happy if the state pays for the new building.
But in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the state should go after the oldest houses instead of nurturing the newest buildings.