Cologne, June 15th 2023. From July 1, 2023, a new funding guideline applies to energy consulting for residential buildings. For owners, this means some changes: In the funding process, from July 2023, the grants will be paid directly to the consulting recipients (i.e., the homeowners). They also apply for the grant and receive the grant notification directly from BAFA. If they do not wish to do this, they can also be represented in the funding process by the energy consultant via a power of attorney. With an additional so-called authorization to BAFA, it can also be ensured that the grant is then paid directly to the energy efficiency expert.
For owners, this change in the funding process means that they (without the above-mentioned authorization) initially have to put more money into their hands: If they have previously received an invoice from the energy consultant only for the own contribution (invoice amount minus grant), the energy consultant will now invoice his entire service from July 2023. After that, BAFA pays the grant directly to the owners. Overall, however, nothing changes in the costs and funding for energy consulting (80% grant up to a maximum of 1,300 euros for single and two-family houses or a maximum of 1,700 euros for multi-family houses).
Another important change: From July, energy consulting for residential buildings will only be funded if an individual renovation plan (iSPF) is created with the current iSFP printing application. This applies to all funding procedures with application submission from July 1, 2023. According to BAFA, this is intended to further increase the comparability and quality of consulting reports.
With the new funding guideline, an on-site appointment becomes mandatory
While a completely digital processing of energy consulting was possible since the Corona time, a data collection on site is mandatory with the new funding guideline. However, this does not necessarily have to be carried out by the energy consultant, but can also be carried out by a suitable third party.
Funded energy consulting only with entry in the list of energy efficiency experts
Another change concerns the admission of energy consultants. From July 1, 2023, energy consulting can only be funded if the energy consultant is listed in the expert list at www.energie-effizienz-experten.de in the relevant category. As a transitional arrangement, BAFA will recognize approval for the respective funding program without entry in the expert list until December 31, 2023.
In addition, the responsibility for the admission of energy consultants will be transferred to the German Energy Agency (dena) from July 1, 2023. The qualification examination for energy consulting for career changers will remain with BAFA.
The new funding guideline can be viewed here.
Source: energie-fachberater.de