As is generally known, space and domestic hot water heating makes up the major part of the running costs of private homes. Modernisation permits significant savings to be achieved. Building energy advisors can help in this – indeed, many houseowners and landlords will soon not be able to do without such experts. The reason for this is that the EU Energy Performance of Building Directive requires EU member states to introduce an energy certificate for all buildings. The directive will only be in place from January 2007 at the earliest and must be bindingly in force within a three-year transitional period. It will then be obligatory for owners to obtain the energy certificate for every building in the event of sale or rental. This means building energy advisors have a lot of work ahead of them. As independent, certified and registered advisors, they are the only people who can issue the energy certificate. Among the details contained in the certificate are the building’s energy coefficient for total energy efficiency, comparative figures for other buildings and recommendations for modernisation.

Building energy advisors are already much in demand for their expertise. Usually they are craftsmen, power engineering technicians, architects or civil engineers who have undertaken a supplementary course of study to qualify for this role. At the request of the owners, they will inspect residential buildings, workshops and factories. Firstly, they determine the coefficient of heat transmission. This figure is defined as the loss in thermal energy with a temperature difference of 1°C between inside and outside. The advisor then assigns the building to a particular energy efficiency class and identifies ways of reducing energy consumption. Martin Kutschka from Frankfurt, whose engineering consultancy has been involved in advising on energy issues for 12 years, explains what happens in a building inspection: "We have a holistic remit. In other words, we inspect the entire building envelope from the cellar via the windows to the roof. At the same time, we inspect the building systems used for space and domestic hot water heating."

It takes about two hours to log the data in a single-family home. The next step is for the advisor to analyse the current performance and draft a detailed report which he then presents to the client in a final meeting. This includes a cost schedule which lists in detail the measures that will deliver energy savings in the most cost-effective manner. The client is also told what grants may be applied for – whether for a new heating system, new doors, windows or effective roof insulation.

In Germany the advisory inspection for a single-family or duplex house costs around 600 to 700 Euro. Private homeowners receive a subsidy to the value of 300 Euro from the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA). Comprehensive grant schemes are also available in Germany for modernisations carried out on the recommendation of the building energy advisor.
There is still the question of the consequences of the energy certificate. A houseowner can, of course, leave his building in an energy-wasting condition after the inspection. But, since the certificate has to be shown to potential tenants or buyers and makes operating costs more transparent, energy guzzlers will probably find themselves being cold-shouldered in future.

Martin Kutschka is optimistic: "There has been a dramatic increase in the willingness to invest in energy-saving measures. Nonetheless, there is still ignorance and uncertainty among the public, and it is precisely this that makes sound advice indispensable." Kutschka reveals himself to be an advocate of condensing technology combined with solar heating: "In the general market average, solar thermal systems are incorporated in only 8 per cent of modernisation projects. After our on-site advice, however, the picture is very different."