KfW Funding Climate-Friendly Residential Building from March 2023

Has anyone applied for kfw 300 with qng and can explain the sequence to me? The energy consultant must be commissioned before the application after the construction documents, floor plan, etc. are available? Does he then contact the construction company and confirm the basic eligibility for funding? Does qng also have to be involved from the beginning? Ideally an energy consultant who can also confirm qng? It would be great if someone has done this and could explain everything. Thanks!

We have exactly the same problem or question mark and a call to the KfW Bank was without added value. We would be very happy to receive information about the procedure, especially since time is now even more pressing due to the questionable funding.

The process with and without QNG is initially the same... The most important thing is: No signatures before the application to KfW – nowhere!

That means: You look for an architect or builder who works with you to develop the plans. The status of the plans must already be almost ready for the building application (room volume, window areas, technology, materials used, ...), because only here are all the necessary details fixed for calculations. Then have it calculated by the energy consultant and if they give the go-ahead, apply for the loan. The house bank handles that – meaning you apply for the entire financing with the ready-to-sign house construction contract as well as the confirmation of application (BZA) from the energy consultant and proof of general funding eligibility. Only when the bank gives the green light would I sign the house construction contract. The bank or KfW does not check anything further. If the confirmation of application (BZA) is included, that is sufficient.

With QNG you should be aware that the planning effort is immense and the small local general contractor who has no experience with it is not the right choice. It is best to choose a supra-regional partner like Viebrockhaus and others, they are experienced in building this way. Also, energy consultants and employed draftsmen are on board, so you don’t have to coordinate everything alone. Getting all this done in parallel is otherwise not easy if you don’t already know the people.

If you still want to take a local general contractor, clarify beforehand if they have ever built with QNG. They cannot plan this the same way as for KfW55 – and if the energy consultant (who of course must be able/allowed to do QNG) has to recalculate multiple times because the plans are not sufficiently optimizable, and you go through several extra rounds with the contractor and energy consultant, it will certainly not get cheaper... Also note that the limits to be met regularly become stricter, so it can happen that if your planning stretches over several weeks, new values suddenly apply.

Have you even dealt with the topic so far, besides knowing that a lot of cheap money is available with QNG? Usually the extra effort and associated additional costs eat up the interest advantage... Own contributions can also become a considerable risk, because with QNG (unlike without QNG) the materials used also play a big role.

How far along are your plans? Builder chosen, financial framework set, land purchased?

Thank you for the notes! So we have the floor plan finished, except for one or two windows (width, sill height) which I am still considering. And now the question about the building materials, that means the parquet adhesive must already be fixed and which doors are used and which windows and parquet, etc.? I actually thought the energy consultant would be helpful in the next step to select already certified products? If you mean all the other building materials, like for the wall construction and the roof construction, those are known. Only the materials for the interior finishing are not yet known. One sticking point could be the basement, since due to the hillside location we have to build with a basement (concrete). The rest consists of wood :) In an initial inquiry with the basement builder weeks ago, he said that would not be a problem, he would also produce the basement for BauFritz. How high the extra effort will be is hard for us to grasp, since in our opinion we are building very ecologically anyway. Also a barrier-free bungalow, ventilation system. And yes, we have dealt with it, but it is not easy to understand what awaits us, because there are so few reports of experience and the information on the internet is rather superficial. The wooden house provider is regional, but has already done it twice (no general contractor). The question remains how we should best proceed now and select the repeatedly mentioned parquet adhesive and when. Thanks

PS: For it to be worthwhile for us, it must actually be QNG Premium and I haven't heard about the continuously tightening limit values yet, but in terms of planning, that's a disaster. Thanks for the note.

Thank you, Lotte. We will sign the contract for work in the near future, but include kfw 300 as a suspensive condition. I talked a lot on the phone today, construction company, kfw, bank. I am now familiar with the process: sign the contract with conditions, receive confirmation of the application (BZA) and draft notarization (both now initiated), so that financing can be applied for, once approval is given, notarization.