Evaluation of energy consulting projects in the Augsburg region

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The district of Augsburg, together with the city of Augsburg and the district of Aichach-Friedberg, is pursuing ambitious climate protection goals, especially in the building sector. CO2 emissions from buildings must be reduced and building and system efficiency increased. As one component of its climate protection activities in this area, the district has been offering its own energy consultations since 2000. These are initial advisory services with the aim of providing competent, needs-oriented, cost-free advice on the most important relevant topics, independent of sales interests.

On behalf of the district of Augsburg, ifeu has evaluated the effects of four of the forms of energy consultations offered for the years 2018 and 2019. A total of 282 energy consultations took place during this period. In the course of the evaluation, more than 100 advice recipients were surveyed, and the energy advisors involved were interviewed.

The evaluation confirmed that the energy consultations of the district of Augsburg lead to investment effects, especially for the regional economy, and result in energy and greenhouse gas savings. Additional effects such as increased knowledge, behavioural changes towards more energy efficiency and avoided bad investments could also be proven. In addition, the character of the initial consultation is shown by the fact that many recipients of consultation take advantage of further consultation or planning services and funding programmes, as intended.