The Construction Minister, together with Economics Minister Robert Habeck, played a leading role in developing the controversial requirements. However, she doesn’t seem to be completely satisfied with the law.
Federal Construction Minister Klara Geywitz (SPD) has publicly criticized the Building Energy Act. The law has been intensively discussed on heating issues, but when it comes to questions about the insulation of houses it is a “model case of individual control,” said Geywitz last Tuesday at a specialist conference of the “Coalition for Wood Construction” initiative. According to Geywitz, the law has become a “really powerful work that really drives some people to despair when it is applied.”
The construction minister, who was responsible for the law together with Robert Habeck’s (Greens) Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate, spoke of reconsidering the law in some areas. Their goal is “that we take a step back and say: Is this actually the most technically sensible way, and if I say: No, I don’t think so, then we have to dismantle it.” Geywitz mentioned the option of creating incentives for new construction in order to keep the CO2 footprint as small as possible.
CSU: “Political aberration”
Michael Kießling, spokesman for infrastructure and mobility for the CSU regional group in Berlin, criticized the minister’s statements: “It is disrespectful and ignorant towards owners and also tenants that Building Minister Geywitz first tacitly supports the resolution of the Building Energy Act and now publicly supports the technical one “The feasibility of it is questioned,” Kießling told t-online. This “political aberration” must stop.
The Bundestag approved the law on September 8th after heated discussions. Geywitz and other government representatives will meet with representatives of the housing industry in the Chancellery on Monday. The aim is to advise on how more apartments can be built quickly and cheaply.
However, some representatives had canceled their participation: The umbrella association of the housing industry (GdW) and the owners’ association Haus & Grund accused Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) on Friday of organizing an event that was “primarily intended for publicity.”
