German family cuts energy use by 70%
Meet the happy Schröder family from Nordrhein-Westfalen in Germany. Thanks to the CO2 Building Rehabilitation Programme, they now use just a fifth of their previous energy consumption for heating their home.
In 2006, when the Schröder family took over the house, which was originally built in 1952, neither the 129 m2 floor plan nor the energy usage level satisfied their expectations. With an annual energy demand of 26,000 kWh, the house belonged to the lowest energy efficiency class "I".
“The overriding goal for the refurbishment was to reduce energy consumption. In the beginning we only wanted to modernise the basics, but it soon became a much bigger project,” says Markus Schröder, who received a favourable loan of 48,000 euro to carry out the project.
Energy savings and a better indoor climate
The Schröder house was refurbished from roof to basement – the result being a massive 70% saving in energy costs and a much better indoor climate.
“To minimise transmission losses, the entire building envelope was properly insulated. The roof was protected with 360 mm thick stone wool, the horizontal division between basement and ground floor was insulated and, finally, 180 mm external wall insulation was installed. The old windows were replaced with double-glazed low energy windows with special shades to avoid summer overheating,” explains Markus Schröder.
Watch interview with Markus Schröder
Read more about the CO2 Building Rehabilitation Programme (in German)
