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Habeck plans: Cold rooms and no warm water for washing hands - Germany will soon have to save money

2022-08-17T09:35:29.732Z


Habeck plans: Cold rooms and no warm water for washing hands - Germany will soon have to save money Created: 08/17/2022, 11:28 am By: Patricia Huber The federal government wants to push the pace when it comes to saving energy. What the traffic light plans for private households and companies, what should happen with public buildings. Berlin – The gas storage target for September has been reach


Habeck plans: Cold rooms and no warm water for washing hands - Germany will soon have to save money

Created: 08/17/2022, 11:28 am

By: Patricia Huber

The federal government wants to push the pace when it comes to saving energy.

What the traffic light plans for private households and companies, what should happen with public buildings.

Berlin – The gas storage target for September has been reached.

The German storage facilities are already 75 percent full.

Nevertheless, saving is still considered one of the most important measures to avoid the gas emergency.

Therefore, the federal government has now drawn up a regulation with which even more energy is to be saved.

This should come into force on September 1st and be valid for six months, i.e. until February 28th, 2022.

Habeck's energy-saving measures: The government is planning this for the winter

The drafts available to the

Bild

newspaper show that Economics Minister Robert Habeck is focusing on "short-term" and "medium-term" savings measures.

The following "short-term" measures apply to consumers:

Home austerity measures: cooler apartments and cold pools

  • No mandatory minimum temperature in rental apartments

    : Corresponding specifications in rental contracts become ineffective.

    Appropriate heating and adequate ventilation are still mandatory.

    Damage in the apartment must not be caused by saving energy

  • Ban on the use of certain types of heating for private pools

    : Private indoor and outdoor pools and above-ground pools may no longer be heated with gas or electricity from the mains.

    However, this does not apply to pools whose "heating is absolutely necessary for therapeutic applications or to prevent damage to the pool area".

Measures to save energy in public buildings

Common areas that “are not used for the permanent residence of people” may no longer be heated.

This includes, for example, corridors or kitchenettes.

However, this does not apply to medical facilities, care facilities and day-care centers.

In addition, the temperature in public buildings is strictly regulated.

According to the government’s draft, the following default values ​​for the maximum temperature then apply in work rooms:

  • For light physical activity and mostly sedentary work 19 °C

  • For light physical activity, mainly standing or walking, 18 °C

  • For moderately heavy and mainly sedentary work 18 °C

  • For moderate activity mainly standing or walking 16 °C

  • For heavy physical activity 12 °C.

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Even with these temperature specifications, clinics, hospitals, care facilities, schools and day-care centers are again exempt.

The same applies to the rule that forbids hot water where it is only used for washing hands.

In “non-residential buildings”, hands may only be washed with cold water.

In addition to the facilities mentioned above, this also excludes buildings in which the “operation of showers is part of normal operational processes”.

In addition, public buildings and monuments are no longer illuminated from the outside.

Only safety and emergency lighting are still permitted.

Habeck's energy-saving measures for companies

In addition to private households and public buildings, the savings measures also affect companies.

In the future, energy suppliers will have to provide apartment owners with comprehensive information.

This includes information "about the energy consumption and the energy costs of the building in the last previous heating period", as well as information "about the level of the expected energy costs of the building for the current heating period".

In addition, the suppliers must provide information about the "calculated savings potential" if the average room temperature were to be reduced by 1 degree Celsius.

Not only energy companies, but also retailers have to help save energy.

Therefore, shop doors and entrance locks may no longer be kept open permanently in the future.

Emergency exits and escape routes are of course excluded here.

In addition, illuminated outdoor advertising should be switched off from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. the following day.

"Medium-term" measures: Energy efficiency should be increased

As further "medium-term" measures, the government has presented plans for increasing energy efficiency.

These are to apply until September 30, 2024.

Specifically, the draft states: "This ordinance regulates technical energy-saving measures in buildings and obliges companies to implement energy management systems."

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This means: In buildings that are heated with gas, a heating inspection must be carried out by a specialist and, if necessary, the heating system of the building must be optimized.

(ph)

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-08-17

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