Impact and social dimensions of Germany’s federal funding for efficient buildings: Findings from four years of evaluation

Peer-reviewed paper 7-201-26

Germany’s building sector accounts for around 35% of national greenhouse gas emissions. The Federal Funding for Efficient Buildings (BEG) – Germany’s largest federal support programme in this sector – funded approximately 1.6 million energy retrofits with €43 billion between 2021 and 2024, promoting energy-efficiency measures and the installation of renewable heating systems in residential and non-residential buildings.

This paper presents key findings from four years of BEG evaluation (2021–2024), focusing on three aspects:

• How changes in the funding regime influenced demand, including anticipation effects and technology-specific dynamics for heat pumps and biomass heating.
• The Worst Performing Building (WPB) bonus, introduced in mid-2022, which by 2023 applied to around half of all funded complete renovations. The paper assesses its contribution to energy savings.
• The social distribution of BEG uptake, which skews towards higher-income households. The low-income bonus introduced in 2024 is examined, including its reach and barriers.