Project

DeGeb

Start of Project 11/2018
-
End of Project 07/2022

Heating buildings accounts for a significant pro­portion of CO2 emissions. How­ever, the impact of more sus­tainable options such as renewable en­ergies depends on the extent to which they are chosen by pro­perty owners and tenants - and thus ultimately on the underlying re­gulatory frame­work and in­centives. DeGeb therefore in­vestigates how different legal forms in­fluence in­dividual de­cisions and how they affect the overall economy in terms of de­carbonising the building heat sector.

Learn more

Update on the project's process

A mix of instruments that achieves decarbonisation in a socially balanced way was developed and presented on 10.06.2021 in the study "Towards climate neutrality in the buildings sector". Furthermore, two publications on resolving the tenant-landlord dilemma were published. One of them addresses the issue in the German context, while the other analyses it at EU level, in the context of an ETS extension. 
In view of the landlord-tenant dilemma, the CO2 price should be borne at least pro­por­tion­ally by the landlord in order to provide modernisation incentives, if not a complete warm rent system should be introduced.
The cause-effect relationship between modernisation levies in tenancy law and subsidies for energy efficiency was investigated and it was shown by model theory that subsidies provide an incentive for landlords to invest more in energy efficiency, precisely because subsidies have to be deducted from the modernisation rent increase.

Main Findings

Download Poster

  • The housing stock is sluggish (long time horizon, high investment costs, private owners).
     
  • The housing stock is hete­rogeneous in terms of con­dition (different re­furbishment re­quirements), owners (different pre­fe­ren­ces, land­lord-tenant dilemma), and local fac­tors (rent index, craft capacities, ...).
     
  • Targeted sub­sidies, a high and sensibly dis­tri­buted CO2 price, and a re­form of the ac­count­ing of service charges are pro­mising policy approaches.

Flagship Paper

Agora Energiewende (2021):
Ein Gebäudekonsens für Klimaneutralität - 10 Eckpunkte wie wir bezahlbaren Wohnraum und Klimaneutralität 2045 zusammen erreichen. Agora Energiewende Impuls.

Agora Energiewende, Universität Kassel (2021):
CO₂ Emissions Trading in Buildings and the Landlord-Tenant Dilemma : How to solve it. Agora Energiewende Impulse.

Agora Energiewende, Universität Kassel (2020):
Wie passen Mieterschutz und Klimaschutz unter einen Hut ? Agora Energiewende Impuls.