Understandable monthly heating information as a key to reducing consumption
More transparency about the monthly individual energy consumption and the costs for heating and hot water should give users impulses for energy-saving behaviour and motivate them to exploit existing energy-saving potentials.
From 1 January 2022, a new heating cost regulation will apply in Germany. Building owners and tenants who already have remotely readable heat meters installed will now be informed monthly about their energy consumption for heating and hot water.
As part of the project “More Quality of Life, Less Environmental Consumption “, ifeu – Institute for Energy and Environmental Research Heidelberg gGmbH, on behalf of the Federal Environment Agency and under the direction of the ZOE Institute, has developed a guideline for the preparation of monthly heating information. Through a transparent, clear and motivating presentation and design, the monthly heating information is intended to give users impulses towards energy-saving everyday behaviour and to encourage them to recognise and use existing potential.
The content and design of the heating information was developed in a dialogue process with stakeholders and in a design process involving consumers and summarised in the guide. In future, ifeu’s guidelines will be used by metering service providers as a guideline for the design of their monthly heating information. Landlords can use it as a basis for invitations to tender and tenants can use it as a reference for comprehensible information on heating and hot water.
The design proposal consists of a compact presentation of all required data, diagrams and information, supplemented by pictograms, tips and links to further information. The information includes:
- development of monthly energy consumption for heating and hot water,
- comparison of the energy consumption of one’s own household with other households in the house,
- classification of the energy consumption of the house into building efficiency classes,
- saving tip of the month for heating and hot water,
- cost estimate for heating and hot water per month and per year,
- CO2 emissions of the household for heating and hot water.
The ifeu guide “Understandable monthly heating information as a key to reducing consumption” can be downloaded here.
