With a green house number for climate protection: Six buildings received awards!

With a green house number for climate protection: Six buildings received awards!

On December 1, 2025, the prestigious “Green House Number” was awarded in Northeim, a symbol of outstanding commitment to climate protection. This award, which is presented by the Lower Saxony Climate Protection and Energy Agency (KEAN) in collaboration with the Northeim district, aims to honor buildings that make a decisive contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions through energy-efficient renovations. The building sector causes around 30% of emissions in Germany every year, and this is where the successful applicants start to significantly reduce this value.

A total of 13 construction projects took part in the competition, whose application period ran from September 1st to October 12th. Energy consultant Jannis Brünjes assisted in evaluating the submissions, ensuring that the efficiency standards were met as specified. In the end, six projects were able to meet the criteria and secure the award.

Successful applicants and their measures

All of the award-winning buildings date from between 1870 and 1978 and have been extensively renovated to improve energy efficiency. The implementation measures included important steps such as insulation, replacing windows and installing modern heating systems that rely on renewable energies, partly supplemented by photovoltaic systems. The efficiency house standards achieved vary between 55 EE and 100, with 100 corresponding to the energy-efficient new building standard. The abbreviation “EE” indicates that part of the energy supply comes from renewable sources.

• Andreas Fritsch und Andrea Fritsch-Kobisch (Northeim)
• Bernhard Bülk (Hardegsen)
• Simone und Sebastian Harms (Moringen)
• Johannes Martynkewicz (Katlenburg-Lindau)
• Jochen Heynold und Gabriele Bauer (Northeim, zwei Gebäude)

Martina Rode, the district's responsible department head, underlined the key role of the building sector in climate protection and emphasized the need for sustainable measures. After the award ceremony, there was a lively exchange about options for energy-efficient renovation. Jochen Heynold advised the participants to find an energy consultant early on and to make sure they plan well and select the right tradesmen.

Funding programs for energy-efficient renovation

These developments fall within a larger context of support programs provided by both KEAN and NBank. Information about the different funding options for improving energy efficiency can be found on the KEAN website. In particular, there are application deadlines that will remain in place in 2025: the deadlines are July 1st and December 15th. These programs rely on significant reductions in fossil energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. For a positive application, a reduction of more than 50% is required.

An important component of the funding is the federal funding for efficient buildings (BEG), which will continue in 2025 and through the turn of the year 2023/2024. This supports owners in renovating their buildings both to reduce costs and to protect the climate. The processing status of applications can be checked online in the BAFA portal, which makes the process more transparent.

For owners of residential buildings, the German Energy Agency website offers comprehensive help in finding energy efficiency experts who may be necessary for submitting an application. This means they have all the tools at their fingertips to make their buildings future-proof and to actively contribute to combating climate change.

Those interested can find further information about the funding programs on the NBank and BAFA websites: NBank and BAFA.