New energy saving regulation from 2016 -> What to build?

Hello everyone,

we are currently planning the construction of a single-family house and are still at the very beginning. We have a plot of land in mind, but have not yet purchased it. There have been no talks with builders yet, only initial orientations through conversations with acquaintances and catalogs from prefabricated house providers. So far, our plan has been to start building the house in spring 2016, when the frost is over.

Triggered by the catalog from Viebrockhaus, who build all houses as standard according to the KfW55 standard, among other things, I have been considering whether it makes sense to build a KfW 70/55/40 house. From what I have read so far in this forum, building such a house is not financially worthwhile.

Now I have two considerations:

1. From 01.01.2016 the new Energy Saving Ordinance applies. As I understand it, as a home builder you are then obliged to build a house that roughly corresponds to the energy consumption of a current KfW-70 house. If you want to avoid this obligation, you have to submit the building application this year. Is that correct?

2. In the threads I have read here so far, it is always said that the additional costs for a KfW 55/70 house cannot be offset by the cheap KfW loan. But one must also consider that an energy-saving house also has lower ongoing incidental costs. Does it still not pay off, unless you decide for an energy-saving house for ecological reasons anyway?

This raises the question for our house building project whether we should still submit the building application this year and which standard we should choose. What are your opinions on this?

Hello,

regarding your questions or plans, I would first like to point out that if you have not yet purchased any land and have not yet obtained any offers, the time until April is not long. In our area (Bavaria Middle Franconia), this schedule would probably no longer be feasible. Furthermore, construction companies certainly already have appointments for next year, and if a project is squeezed in, prices are often higher. Whether this is the case in your region (Bremen area), I can only speculate.

By chance, I was in Hamburg a few weeks ago and also visited a show home park of Viebrockhaus, which offers solid prefabricated houses. Is it already certain that you want to build with them or possibly with an architect or otherwise?

Regarding 1.
Concerning the Energy Saving Ordinance, a colleague submitted his application at the beginning of the year and still received the old Energy Saving Ordinance requirements. He will start building in April 2016. You have a deadline until 01.01.2016 by which your building application must be submitted so that you can still build according to the old Energy Saving Ordinance values.
Ultimately, most houses are offered according to KfW 70 or nowadays even 55 standards. Therefore, it is questionable whether it is really worth (if the construction project is not planned immediately) stressing yourself about it and pushing through all the preliminary planning in a very short time. You might regret it afterwards because you were too hasty during planning and would have liked many things to be different.

Regarding 2.
The KfW loan is only favored by the interest rate and a subsidy. Currently, the interest rates for KfW 70 are about 1%, for KfW 55 about 0.75%. With KfW 55, you get a repayment subsidy of up to €2500 in addition. It should be clear to everyone that this does not directly balance out with all the additional measures. Often, it results naturally from how you want to operate your house.
If you want an air-to-water heat pump, a ventilation system, a brick with high insulation value, triple-glazed windows, and so on. So you may already have reached KfW 70 or 55 without even knowing it. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you about amortization regarding the duration and savings.

Regarding 3.
If you still want to build in April next year, in my opinion, as mentioned above, you have already answered this question yourself. Personally, based on my experience and that of acquaintances, I find that you are already somewhat late.

Regards, Andreas

Viebrockhaus does not build prefabricated houses - they use gypsum panels for the attic conversion but otherwise everything is relatively conventional, or am I wrong?

Otherwise, the general statement that it is not worth it is not quite correct. Depending on the measure (surely some will say now that you have to see the whole thing as a concept and everything interacts, etc.) the yield is rather poor, but you rarely burn money either.
Unfounded and exemplary with some relation to reality: better masonry pays off after 25 years, brine-water heat pump rather after 30 (although you have to consider the lifespan of the drilling here), solar thermal hardly at all, photovoltaics borderline depending on the concept.

So then I take back the "Massivfertighaus" and say solid houses.

I happened to be in Hamburg a few weeks ago and also visited a model house park by Viebrockhaus, who offer solid prefabricated houses. Is it already certain that you want to build with them or possibly through an architect or otherwise?

Viebrockhaus is just one of the providers under consideration. As of today, we still want to meet with ECO and two regional construction companies. By the way, we are not building in Bremen, but in the district of Stade in the Alten Land.
The plot has not been purchased yet. If we agree on the price, this could happen within the next two to three weeks.

If April becomes too tight, we could also build later. We don't want to rush, but also don't want to wait unnecessarily long and possibly pay rent in parallel.

Ultimately, most houses are offered at KFW 70 or even 55 standard nowadays. So it is questionable whether it really makes sense (if the building project is not planned right away) to stress yourself over it and push through all the preliminary plans in the shortest possible time. You might regret it afterwards because the planning was too hasty and you would have preferred many things differently.

Basically, I also like the idea of a KfW 55 (or at least KfW 70) house – also from an ecological perspective. However, I have often read here in the forum that it is discouraged because it is way too expensive.

The KFW loan is only favored by the interest rate as well as a grant. Currently, the interest rates for KFW 70 are about 1%, for KFW 55 about 0.75%. For KFW 55 you get an additional repayment bonus of up to €2,500. It is clear to everyone that this does not directly offset itself with all additional measures. This often results naturally from factors like how you want to operate your house.
If you want an air-to-water heat pump, a ventilation system, a stone with high insulation value, triple-glazed windows, and so on. Thus, you may have already reached KFW 70 or 55 without knowing it. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you the amortization regarding the runtime and the savings.

As mentioned above, I consider certain things ecologically sensible and, for example, a ventilation system also useful to counteract the already very good insulation in new buildings and the short construction time (= short drying time) with good ventilation, which is not just based on airing out four times a day.
Otherwise, I find the concept of, e.g., Viebrockhaus with photovoltaic + air-to-water heat pump + ventilation system + underfloor heating very interesting. But it could also just sound stylish and be an economic nonsense.

So that the thread can also be found in the search under Viebrockhaus: Viebrockhaus without h