Construction costs are currently skyrocketing

For example, in our case, we bought existing buildings in 2017 with limited funds and could initially only do the bare minimum. For 5 years, we have been proceeding little by little, as money is available. In 2023, the ground floor renovation with floor insulation will happen, and this is how we are moving forward – in 2022, the last new windows were installed, for example. I expect that it will take us about 5-10 more years (financially speaking) until the house has been completely overhauled once, including enhanced external insulation. We didn’t have to go into excessive debt for this; for us, this approach was exactly right. However, we are not big energy wasters; we have low consumption in a small house. And we also live quite energy-consciously in other respects. Low waste (unpackaged and so on), bicycle, public transport, and what you’re generally familiar with.

A new build also releases a huge amount of emissions into the air, precisely because everything has to be manufactured. No one here can exempt themselves from this "debt." However, I agree if people criticize those living in huge old houses who clearly had the money but preferred to waste endlessly cheap energy for many years because it was simply so cheap.

This is a bit like the debate about the inheritance tax. Horror scenarios are painted of little people who would fall into poverty through new regulations. And the millionaires and billionaires and real estate companies are laughing their heads off.

Maybe I have my special tunnel vision down here in the south, but I lack sympathy when I know how many apartment buildings some of our clients have inherited in recent years and only extract the maximum income from them. Then I am the fool who has tenants with the leaky 70s aluminum windows on the phone, who rightfully expect to get their 80 sqm for 1800 € (cold) warm warm.

And what would be your suggestion for what we could do NOW? What we have missed we can no longer change.

Scrap watering-can aid and invest the money in low-interest renovation loans. Repayment grants should depend not only on how the renovation is done but also on the owners' assets and income. Serious renovation obligations upon change of ownership. Training offensive for crafts professions. Currently, we are subsidizing energy consumption with debt; we should subsidize energy saving. If everyone is relieved, no one is relieved. Prices will simply continue to rise or fall less far from their peaks. At the same time, take off the blinders in energy supply. A coal phase-out by 2030 is not a likely future if we electrify everything at the same time. Keep nuclear power plants running for the foreseeable future and create a joint repository with Switzerland. It's right below the border anyway. Limit the right to object to infrastructure projects to residents who are actually concretely affected (e.g., within a 5 km radius of wind farms) and compensate these residents from the outset for having other people's infrastructure in their immediate vicinity. Expand the railway so that freight traffic can actually be shifted to rail and not just to roads. Expand bicycle paths. Especially in rural areas, this is a much more effective lever than a bus.

Insulation measures in existing buildings are usually a money-losing business without strong subsidies; making them mandatory is socially unfair and also ecologically questionable

Do you mean economically? Ecologically, insulation is absolutely sensible; it saves many times the amount of oil used. I have something between 10-20 times in mind, but don’t hold me to the exact number.

The obligation to carry out energy-related renovations within 2 years after acquisition has actually existed for a long time… it's just that nobody monitors it…

Simply nationalize energy completely, that is supply, production, consumption, but also renovation measures. Then there will at most be disputes about quotas (who is allowed to consume how much). But then you can choose accordingly.