Whoever builds a house needs a good nerve.

After all, owning your own property is not only one of the largest single investments of your life for many.

There are simply too many tripping hazards between four walls, especially when they present themselves as shells.

Because the craftsman doesn't want to do the same as the site manager or the partner doesn't like you. Because the ordered building material for the only free electrician's appointment in the next few months arrives too late or the onset of winter comes too early for the roofer.

Anna Lena Niemann

Editor in the “Technology and Engine” department.

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But what builders have to shoulder on the way to their own home at the moment seems to exceed the usual level.

Because everything is increasing: land prices, waiting times for skilled workers, the prices for building materials, interest rates, inflation and, last but not least, the demands that the legislature and the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) place on the most environmentally friendly new buildings.

The promotion

The latter in particular has caused resentment among those wanting to build this year.

In a way, KfW fared like many builders: the money was gone faster than you could see.

After the first funding freeze, which the Federal Ministry of Economics surprisingly announced in January because the applications far exceeded the bank's budget, some programs should start again in April.

At least for class 40 efficiency houses, which have to meet even stricter requirements than the hitherto popular KfW efficiency house 55, for which there are no longer any repayment grants.

In simplified terms, the figures indicate that such a house only requires 40, 55 or 70 percent of the energy that a reference house from the Building Energy Act (GEG) consumes.

The lower the number, the less energy the residents need,

By the end of the year, the Ministry for the Efficiency Houses 40 had added one billion euros and at the same time halved the funding for each building project.

Nevertheless, so many applications were received at the start on April 20 that KfW had to announce another acceptance freeze after just a few hours.

If you only have individual measures in mind, for example wanting to re-insulate the roof, or if you want to renovate an old house and bring it up to one of the efficiency standards, this is initially unaffected.

In new construction, however, the funding pots are empty for the time being, with one exception: the efficiency house 40 with sustainability class.

If a new house meets these even stricter criteria, builders can hope for a low-interest loan of up to 150,000 euros and a repayment subsidy of 12.5 percent (maximum 18,750 euros).

The requirements

This is what the future of government-subsidized construction looks like.

Although the expiry date has already been set for this efficiency class - from January 2023 there will be a new program for new construction subsidies.

It is not yet clear what exactly KfW and the ministries will then promote and subsidize and how, but the criteria of the sustainability seal should provide clues.

The entire life cycle of a house thus becomes the focus.

What about the CO2 balance of building services?

Does the filler comply with all limit values?

And the question then is not only: How well does a material insulate, but: How easily can an insulating material be recycled if the house is to be demolished in 50 years?

Anyone who does not want to wait to see what the new construction subsidy will actually bring next year, or who has given up the desire to rely on the state authorities in view of the subsidy chaos of the past few months, can of course still use the criteria of the KfW efficiency houses as a guide.

Especially in times of rising energy prices, the cozy, thick shell of your own new building, which promises low heating costs, can be tempting.

In addition, those who place themselves in the hands of a prefabricated house builder - almost every fourth person does so now, and the trend is rising - are hardly ever offered a design that does not at least correspond to the Efficiency House 55.