New Energy Savings Regulation by the German Government: Mandatory Measures Explained

Note: The Regulation for Securing Energy Supply Through Short-Term Measures (EnSikuMaV) and the Regulation for Securing Energy Supply Through Medium-Term Measures (EnSimiMaV) have been out of force since April 2023 and September 2024, respectively. Since then, the general regulations on energy efficiency, such as those set out in the Buildings Energy Act (GEG), have been in effect.

The basis for these regulations was Russia's violation of international law through its attack on Ukraine. The already strained energy markets have drastically worsened over recent months. As early as March 30, 2022, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action declared the early warning level, followed by the alert level of the Gas Emergency Plan on June 22, 2022.

The purpose of these energy savings regulations was to prevent an emergency in energy supply under all circumstances. The guiding principle: every kilowatt hour counts. The EnSikuMaV and EnSimiMaV were projected to save energy costs amounting to €10.8 billion over the next two years.

What Building Owners and Businesses Need to Know

For building owners, Sections 2 and 3 of the EnSimiMaV were relevant. Citizens who use gas heating systems were obligated to assess and implement heating optimization measures. These measures had to be identified by qualified professionals and implemented by September 15, 2024. Additionally, the necessity of hydraulic balancing was to be evaluated.

However, there were exceptions: Obligations under the regulation were waived if buildings were managed within a standardized energy management system or featured standardized building automation. Furthermore, the obligation did not apply if a comparable inspection had been conducted within the two years preceding October 1, 2022, and no optimization needs were identified.

Businesses were required to comply with Section 4 of the EnSimiMaV and, if their energy consumption exceeded 10 gigawatt-hours per year, to implement energy efficiency measures. All measures identified during energy audits under E-DLG or through energy or environmental management systems that were economically feasible had to be implemented. The time frame for implementing these measures was limited to 18 months. Additionally, businesses were required to have implemented measures, as well as those not implemented due to economic infeasibility, verified by certifiers or energy auditors.

The basis for a uniform and comprehensible evaluation of economic efficiency is the underlying standard DIN EN 17463. Limited to an evaluation period of a maximum of 15 years, a positive net present value must result after a maximum of 20 percent of the useful life.

Practical Steps and How aedifion Can Provide Support

Even independent of regulations like the EnSimiMaV, buildings are facing increasing demands. Keywords like digitization, sustainability, and efficiency have been the dominant themes in the real estate industry long before the energy supply crisis.

The most crucial foundation amidst these challenges and mandatory regulations is always the same: a holistic data basis and connectivity. With the aedifion cloud platform, all systems can be connected through simple plug-and-play installation. Thanks to open interfaces, third-party systems can be seamlessly integrated. For building managers and administrators, it becomes effortless to automate room climate adjustments based on outdoor temperatures and to manage ventilation according to occupancy levels.

The aedifion cloud platform helps identify unnecessary energy consumption through monitoring data and intelligent analysis. Based on this, a catalog of actionable recommendations is created to optimize building operations' efficiency.

Mandated heating optimizations, in particular, often involve adjustments that can be fully automated and dynamically managed with an AI-based control system.

Of course, there are other benefits that go hand in hand with centralized, high-performance software: reduced maintenance effort, lower operating costs, improved air quality, and increased sustainability, to name only a few.