Energy efficiency has long been a key factor in the energy transition. Rising heating costs, growing climate awareness, and new legal requirements make the energy efficiency of buildings a decisive factor for the real estate industry, municipal planning, and the energy transition.
With a new methodology for calculating heat demand, Nexiga and the DBI Group are now setting a milestone: for the first time, the entire building sector in Germany—residential and non-residential buildings—is being mapped precisely and based on standards.
Why a new methodology is necessary
The previous method of calculating heat demand was too inaccurate for building-specific planning. It was based on general assumptions, only took the residential sector into account, and used specific consumption values such as kWh/(m²·a) instead of physical building characteristics. "This approach led to a significant loss of information and limited the significance of concrete planning, " explains Dirk Schneider, Managing Director at Nexiga.
With the new methodology, however, the entire building sector is taken into account—because location-specific features and building-specific details—including through the use of LOD2 building data—now consistently follow the specifications of DIN V 18599. This transfers the energy consulting methodology to a Germany-wide GIS-based solution and scales it using a data-based approach.
"The joint heat demand calculation by DBI and Nexiga is a milestone for the energy transition. By combining standard-based methods with detailed geodata, we are able to accurately map the entire building sector. This provides a reliable basis for decision-making for local authorities, network operators, energy suppliers, municipal utilities, and the housing industry, " adds Gert Müller-Syring, Managing Director & Spokesperson for the DBI Group.
What is changing
The new calculation now covers around 34 million buildings, representing the vast majority of heated buildings in Germany, and takes into account around 70 million building structures. It enables a detailed analysis of structural situations, such as the distinction between detached buildings, mid-terrace houses, or end-terrace houses with exposed exterior walls.
Heat demand information is also provided for buildings classified as unheated. In addition, the new methodology allows separate data for heating and hot water and consistently follows the normative requirements of DIN V 18599. "With our comprehensive database and the new methodology, we are creating unprecedented transparency. Energy efficiency thus becomes measurable, comparable, and comprehensible for all parties involved—a decisive step toward sustainable building and living,"emphasizes Dirk Schneider, Managing Director at Nexiga.
The new methodology opens up numerous practical applications.
Municipalities can use the new data to create heating plans that comply with the legal requirements of the Building Energy Act (GEG). This allows heating networks to be expanded in a targeted manner and neighborhood concepts to be developed that take local needs into account.
Housing associations can evaluate the energy efficiency of their portfolios and prioritize which buildings should be renovated first. The detailed heat demand analysis forms the basis for sound investment planning and enables a sensitivity analysis of the effects of different renovation stages.
Energy suppliers, network operators, and energy consultants receive precise, standard-based heat demand data as a basis for municipal heat planning, the design of heating networks, the economic evaluation of local and district heating solutions, and for preliminary analyses and scenarios for planning renovation measures.
Contact
Nexiga GmbH
Norbert Stankus, Director of Energy & E-Mobility
Email: stankus@nexiga.com
Phone: +49 228 8496 208
Nexiga Ltd.
Ina Wagner, Senior Marketing Manager
Email: wagner@nexiga.com
Phone: +49 228 8496 272
*About DBI
As an independent group of companies affiliated with DVGW e.V., the DBI Group deals with issues along the entire value chain, from gas production, storage, and transport/distribution to the efficient and environmentally friendly use of renewable energy sources.
DBI Gas- und Umwelttechnik stands for the development of forward-looking technologies relating to renewable gaseous energy sources and their successful introduction into practice. Among other things, the company develops solutions that can be applied directly in energy and heating technology. Using standard-based methods and sound scientific expertise, the company supports the design of a secure, efficient, and climate-friendly energy supply. DBI – Gastechnologisches Institut gGmbH Freiberg conducts research on fundamental issues.
