Restructuring Proposal for Würzburg City

Würzburg, a city in Germany, has taken a significant step towards becoming climate-neutral by 2040. The city administration has initiated an energy renovation plan for its municipal properties, aiming to be climate-neutral by 2028.

The Würzburg energy renovation plan, developed with the assistance of consulting firm Drees & Sommer SE, highlights the crucial role of cities and municipalities in transforming the building stock. According to the German Energy Agency (dena) study, the plan prioritizes buildings with the highest energy consumption, following the "worst first" principle.

The energy-related investment costs for the properties examined in the Würzburg energy renovation plan amount to around 33 million euros. However, if the measures in the plan are implemented, the city could save around one million euros per year in operating costs.

The plan recommends approximately 200 measures for the first 20 public buildings, focusing on heat pumps, photovoltaic systems, and better insulation to replace fossil energy sources and make building operations more sustainable. The CO2 savings potential, investment costs, and payback times are shown in the plan for these measures.

The plan also includes so-called quick wins, which enable short-term energy savings with low effort and costs. These measures could help the city pay for itself in about 33 years, based on the annual savings.

Various funding programs are available for building renovation, as per the dena study. These include programs for insulation, the exchange of old oil and gas heating systems, heat pumps, photovoltaic systems, and renewable heat networks. Tax incentives such as special depreciation allowances are also mentioned in the study as a means to facilitate necessary investments.

The dena study suggests a need to significantly increase the renovation rate and depth of public non-residential buildings. An additional 120 billion euros is estimated to be required for the renovation of public non-residential buildings by 2045, according to the study.

The Würzburg energy renovation plan could serve as a blueprint for other municipalities, offering a detailed energy renovation roadmap towards long-term energy and cost savings, and reducing CO2 emissions in the public building stock.