Potential of insulation

This study quantifies the savings potential for the useful heat consumption in buildings. The potential limits indicate that the useful heat consumption can only be reduced to a certain extent. Reduction can be achieved by insulating measures as well as air tightness or heat recovery systems. Some buildings cannot be insulated, sealed or equipped with heat recovery systems due to restrictions. Also even the most efficient buildings still have heat losses, albeit to a small extent. The sum of these heat losses - plus the heat demand for hot water generation - forms a base that cannot be reduced any further by technical measures. This base represents the theoretical potential of efficiency measures in the building sector. The transformation path causes additional restrictions over time. The maximum transformation speed, expressed by renovation rate and depth, determines whether the theoretical potential can be achieved at all during the period under review. The transformation path at maximum speed thus represents the realizable potential. The potential limits restrict the scope for action in the reduction of primary energy consumption. This must be mitigated by additional efforts to reduce system losses and primary energy factors.