Chillventa country report: GERMANY
- Key theme: Energy efficiency
- The ventilation and air conditioning market
- The refrigeration market
- The heat pump market
One paramount issue has dominated the German building services industry for some years, namely the improvement of energy efficiency in existing and newly erected residential and non-residential buildings. To implement these demands for efficiency, an extensive package of new laws and regulations has been initiated that provides strict standards for both the building skin (building physics) and the equipment to be used in the buildings (heating, sanitary facilities, ventilation, refrigeration, air conditioning, lighting) and their efficiency (energy efficiency). As a supplement to these regulations, the German government has passed a support programme of several billion euros, which is intended to encourage building owners to invest in energy-efficient building services.
According to statistics from the Bundesindustrieverband Heizungs-, Klima- Sanitärtechnik/Technische Gebäudesysteme (BHKS – German Association of the Heating, Air Conditioning, Sanitary Engineering and Building Services Industry), in which the about 500 largest German manufacturers of building services systems are members, the total sales of building services systems in Germany in 2007 amounted to around 60 billion euros. This figure covers both the sale of technical equipment and systems installed in buildings and the cost of their installation (www.bhks.de).
On the basis of the annual analyses of the world and European market for refrigeration and air conditioning equipment carried out by the Japanese magazine Jarn, Germany with total sales of almost 500 million euros in the product segments of chillers, ventilation and air conditioning equipment and fan convectors is European champion for the first time after taking over from the previous leader Italy with approx. 460 million euros in 2007 (www.jarn.co.jp).
The ventilation and air conditioning market
Germany has been a leader for many years in the central ventilation and air conditioning segment, in which the air drawn in from outside is first filtered in a central air conditioning unit, then heated, cooled, humidified or dehumidified as required and finally delivered to the rooms via an air duct system and outlets. Almost 50,000 ventilation and air conditioning units worth about 400 million euros were sold in Germany in 2007. These ventilation and air conditioning units are supplemented with about 7,000 chillers (approx. 150 million euros) and 60,000 fan convectors. Germany also leads in the segment of cooling ceilings, of which about 650,000 m² worth some 100 million euros are installed annually, especially in office and administrative buildings. The (cheaper) concrete core temperature control systems have increasingly become strong competitors of these cooling ceilings over the past 10 years or so. In this system, room heating or cooling is provided by water flowing through pipes integrated into the concrete ceilings.
The major causes of strong influence on the present market for ventilation and air conditioning systems are the two European standards published in summer 2007, DIN EN 13779 “Ventilation for non-residential buildings” and DIN EN 15251 “Indoor environmental input parameters for design and assessment of energy performance of buildings”. These provide standards for the intake volume of outside air, the room temperatures and humidity to be maintained and the design of the air conditioning system to minimize the energy requirement. The standards depend on the desired room climate, which the developer can choose from several categories.
The German Energy Conservation Act (EnEV) in force since October 2007, for which a stricter revised version has been announced for spring 2009, also defines special standards for energy efficiency of central ventilation and air conditioning systems. For example, EnEV stipulates that the energy requirement of the fan in a ventilation system must not exceed a maximum SFP (Specific Fan Power) of 2.0 kW per m³/h air delivered. This figure is reduced to SFP = 1.5 kW per m³/h in EnEV 2009. In addition, the act has stipulated that “energy inspections of air conditioning systems” with a refrigerating power of more than 12 kW must be carried out since October 2007, and these inspections are very extensive and demanding: They start with all components that affect the efficiency of the plant and range from the dimensioning of the plant in relation to the building cooling requirement, checking the plant design, changes in the room use/occupancy, time used, internal heat sources, building physics and the specification figures for air quantities, humidity, operating times and tolerances. These inspections are used to present the results to the building operator in a report and show the possibilities for improving the energy efficiency of the plant. According to EnEV, these inspection obligations apply to about 450,000 air conditioning plants in existing buildings. On the question of which air conditioning plants are to undergo such inspections first, the act stipulates the year of manufacture: Air conditioning plants installed before 1987 are to be inspected by October 2009. These are followed by air conditioning plants built between 1987 and 1995, which are to be inspected by October 2011, etc. The coming EnEV 2009 also specifies that heat recovery systems are to be installed in future in newly erected and modernized air conditioning systems.
An initiative introduced by the Herstellerverband RLT-Geräte (Association of Ventilation and Air Conditioning Manufacturers) at the end of 2007 should also be mentioned in connection with the energy efficiency of ventilation and air conditioning units. This concerns the certification of ventilation and air conditioning units and central air conditioning units based on three major parameters: The air speed in the equipment as a function of the thermodynamic functions used (heating, cooling, humidifying and dehumidifying), the maximum electrical power consumption of the fan (kW / m³/s) and the efficiency of heat recovery. Depending on the quality of the equipment and the result of the inspection of the above factors by the Technical Inspection Authority TÜV Süd, the equipment receives an energy efficiency class A or B label; class 1+ is also to be introduced soon (www.rlt-geraete.de). The requirements of the Herstellerverband RLT-Geräte differ only slightly from the classification system for ventilation and air conditioning equipment recently introduced by the European association Eurovent. (www.eurovent-certification.com)
The German market for room air conditioners has also developed really dynamically for some years and doubled from about 65,000 outdoor units sold in 2002 to 135,000 such units sold in 2007 – but still only amounts to around 10 % of the markets in Italy (1.7 million units) or Spain (1.4 million units). The sale of VRF air conditioning systems in Germany rose by a distinctly above-average amount from 2002 to 2007 – by more than 500 % to almost 10,000 outdoor units.
The refrigeration market
The German market for refrigeration plant and systems is also developing in a similarly dynamic way to the ventilation and air conditioning market and is just as heavily characterized by various regulations. A study published in mid 2008 by the Forschungsrat Kältetechnik (FKT, www.fkt.com – Refrigeration Research Council) shows the way in the future: Refrigeration and air conditioning plants with 77,000 GWh of electrical work hold a 14 % share of the total electricity requirement in Germany. According to FKT, this electricity requirement for refrigeration and air conditioning can be reduced by up to 40 % by optimizing plant operation (especially control/automatic control) and replacing outdated components with new efficient components. In order to realize these potentials in the coming years, FKT together with the Fachabteilung Kälte- und Wärmepumpentechnik im VDMA (Refrigeration and Heat Pump Section of VDMA) and the Refrigerated Cabinets Group have set up the "Energy Efficiency Working Group". Eight sub working groups commence their work in September 2008 and will document their results in guidelines and recommendations (www.vdma.org).
A new support programme of the German Ministry of the Environment starting in September 2008 goes in the same direction. Its aim is to reduce the electrical energy requirement of commercial refrigeration plants by 11,000 GWh a year. The ministry’s support programme distinguishes between existing and new refrigeration plants. To qualify for support, existing plants must have an annual energy consumption of over 150,000 kWh (approx. 20 kW refrigerating power) and an expert assessment of the plant must show potential savings of at least 35 %. If these conditions are fulfilled, the energy modernization of the refrigeration plant can be supported with grants of 15 % of expenditure (if synthetic refrigerants are used) or 25 % of expenditure (if natural refrigerants are used). The support for new plants starts at an electrical power requirement of 100.000 kWh per year. The support for new plants is limited solely to plants operated with natural refrigerants – which has resulted in many protests from the sector. In such a case, the support is 25 % of expenditure (www.kaelte-effizienz.de).
The implementation of the Chemicals & Climate Protection Act, which stipulates regular leak tests of refrigeration plants based on the refrigerant charge and year of manufacture of the plant, also started in Germany in 2008. The following conditions apply (the % figures show the maximum permissible amount of emission as a function of the refrigerant charge):
| Refrigerant charge | Date of manufacture of plant | ||
| until 30.6.2005 | 1.6.2005-30.6.2008 | after 1.7.2008 | |
| Less than 10 kg | 8 % | 6 % | 3 % |
| 10 to 100 kg | 6 % | 4 % | 2 % |
| Over 100 kg | 4 % | 2 % | 1 % |
The following cycles apply for the leak tests: Every 12 months for plants with refrigerant charges from 3 to 30 kg, every 6 months for plants with 30 to 300 kg and every 3 months for more than 300 kg refrigerant.
Germany also began the implementation of EU Regulation 303/2008 in summer 2008 and introduced new arrangements for proof of expert knowledge and certification for all persons and companies installing refrigeration plants and/or wanting to carry out servicing work on them. The regulation distinguishes between the type of activity (installation, leak tests, removal of refrigerant, service/maintenance) and plant size. The requirements for certification are theoretical and practical tests, whose scope is based on the desired work to be carried out and categories.
There is an acute shortage of engineers, technicians and other experts in Germany, particularly in the refrigeration and air conditioning segment. Although working in refrigeration and air conditioning offers excellent opportunities, the existing demand for skilled staff for the some 2,000 mostly small specialist firms can nowhere near be satisfied – even though training institutions such as the Federal College of Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Technology, the European Academy of Refrigeration and Air Conditioning in Maintal (www.bfs-kaelte-klima.de, www.esak.de) and others, and the two leading refrigeration and air conditioning associations VDKF (www.vdkf.de) and BIV (www.biv-kaelte.de) are making considerable efforts to obtain trainees for the sector. Despite the outstanding future prospects, many specialist companies are therefore looking to the coming years with concern, when, for example, the step-by-step phase-out of the use of the service refrigerant R22 is on the agenda: From 2010 onwards, thousands of small and large R22 refrigeration plants in Germany will have to be taken out of service and replaced with new ones – and the question arises of which companies will implement this huge potential.
The heat pump market
Whereas the German market for classic heaters powered by oil or gas had to accept a drop of 26 % to 564,000 sold units in 2007, heat pumps maintained their position: The number of heat pumps sold rose by 1 % over 2006 to reach a total of 45,300 units. As the following table shows, water-water heat pumps registered strong growth of +37 % and air-water heat pumps +33 %. Despite a drop of 19 %, brine-water heat pumps managed to maintain their top position in 2007 (www.bwp.de).
| 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | |
| Brine-water | 10.965 | 28.140 | 22.700 |
| Air-water | 4.967 | 13.300 | 17.748 |
| Water-water | 2.285 | 3.540 | 4.852 |
| Total | 18.217 | 44.980 | 45.300 |
Germany also has an official support programme based on several factors for heat pumps used as “heating system for the use of renewable energy”. First the heat pump plant must achieve a minimum annual operating figure to qualify for a grant. Other factors are whether the installation is fitted in a new building or retrofitted in an existing building and the type of heat pump system used (type of heat source). The following table shows the required minimum annual operating figures.
| Heat pump | New building | Existing building |
| Brine-water | 4,0 | 3,7 |
| Water-water | 4,0 | 3,7 |
| Air-water | 3,5 | 3,3 |
The following grants are possible if these conditions are fulfilled:
| Heat source | Residential building: | ||
| New building | Existing building | ||
| Brine-water | 10 € / qm | 20 € / qm | |
| Air | 5 € / qm | 10 € / qm |
The maximum grant for residential buildings is 3,000 € or 15 % of the expenditure for non-residential buildings. As soon as the previously mentioned annual operating figure is about 0.8 above the minimum value, the builder can apply for a supplementary innovation grant for his heat pump plant, which is 50 % on top of the basic grant.
There is a new development for air-water heat pumps, which are still acknowledged as having excellent market prospects due to their really simple installation (especially in building modernization). This concerns inverter-driven and thus especially energy-efficient air-water heat pumps such as those offered by Daikin, Axair, Mitsubishi Electric and Hitachi, which have been available for some months and intend to win substantial shares of the market.
Contact for press and media:
Petra Wolf, Isabelle Wagner
Tel +49 (0) 9 11. 86 06-86 46
Fax +49 (0) 9 11. 86 06-86 40
More articles are available in the press section at: www.chillventa.dewww.ask-chillventa.de
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