© Figure: BMWi/ Source of data: dena
dena survey: convincing results
For many home owners, the time when their house was under construction is not one that they cherish happy memories about. A lack of qualified advice, things that went wrong – there are many who later regret some of the decisions they took at the time. It seems that owners of Efficiency Houses are an exception here. They are still happy with their decisions even after the retrofitting work has been carried out. These are some of the findings of a recent survey conducted by the German Energy Agency (dena) among owners of Efficiency Houses.
The response was extremely positive, with 94 per cent of those surveyed saying that they would recommend the measures they took to improve their home’s energy efficiency to others. The figure shows individual approval rates for various measures: when asked which of the measures they had taken to improve their homes’ energy efficiency they would still opt for if they could take that decision all over again, all of the respondents agreed that they would go for their new windows again. Approval rates for insulating the facade and for rendering the hot-water supply more energy-efficient were also close to 100 per cent, with around 95 per cent of respondents saying they would once again opt for their improved heating and ventilation systems.
Better quality of life
Efficiency Houses need a lot less energy. That saves a lot of money and helps the climate by cutting CO2 emissions. But that’s not all: the survey showed that about half of the respondents feel a lot more comfortable in their modernised homes, with people who are allergic to pollen reporting particular health benefits thanks to the ventilation system. More than 80 per cent of respondents feel that the room temperature and the air quality have improved after the modernisation.