New heating law saves tiny house manufacturers
Subsequent work on the design guarantees the livelihoods of numerous manufacturers
The Bundesverband Mikrohaus appreciates the compromise on the GEG amendment as realistic and constructive. The danger of countless company closures by micro house manufacturers could be averted by the successful objections of the Federal Micro House Association.
Regardless of the nationwide growing interest in small, self-contained residential units, it went largely unnoticed that the entire tiny house market would have been doomed to fail as a result of the planned amendment to the Building Energy Act (GEG). The reason lay in the completely unsuitable heating solution for micro houses. The initially prioritized heat pump heating systems are not suitable for micro houses. They have no boiler room and space for storage systems that feed water-bearing surface heating. It makes no economic sense to spend 20-40,000 euros on heating alone for a micro-house that itself only costs 120,000 euros.
According to the current state of the art and development, the electronically controlled pellet stove meets all existing and currently planned requirements of at least 65% renewable energy. This means that electricity-based heaters do not have to be operated with "dirty energy". The federal association is therefore satisfied with the decision that the GEG amendment is open to technology. "We must finally return to reality: It is not politicians who invent technical solutions, but scientists and engineers who make our progress possible," states BMVH President Peter L. Pedersen.
With the unrestricted equivalence of biomass, the only type of heating that is ecologically and energetically sensible for micro-houses is retained. "Without this heating solution, the Tiny House market would have been history from January 1st, 2024," states Federal Managing Director Lars Bosse and continues: "No other type of heating can fully meet the future legal requirements for micro houses based on the current state of the art".
Pedersen goes even further: "The tiny house is currently the only new form of living that has gone beyond a prototype and model character and can already go into mass production today. People want smaller houses, they want houses that are more sustainable in terms of energy and the market can deliver. With the GEG amendment, politicians have now made their contribution to ensuring that this idea of an ecological micro-house living form has a real future."
Regardless of the nationwide growing interest in small, self-contained residential units, it went largely unnoticed that the entire tiny house market would have been doomed to fail as a result of the planned amendment to the Building Energy Act (GEG). The reason lay in the completely unsuitable heating solution for micro houses. The initially prioritized heat pump heating systems are not suitable for micro houses. They have no boiler room and space for storage systems that feed water-bearing surface heating. It makes no economic sense to spend 20-40,000 euros on heating alone for a micro-house that itself only costs 120,000 euros.
According to the current state of the art and development, the electronically controlled pellet stove meets all existing and currently planned requirements of at least 65% renewable energy. This means that electricity-based heaters do not have to be operated with "dirty energy". The federal association is therefore satisfied with the decision that the GEG amendment is open to technology. "We must finally return to reality: It is not politicians who invent technical solutions, but scientists and engineers who make our progress possible," states BMVH President Peter L. Pedersen.
With the unrestricted equivalence of biomass, the only type of heating that is ecologically and energetically sensible for micro-houses is retained. "Without this heating solution, the Tiny House market would have been history from January 1st, 2024," states Federal Managing Director Lars Bosse and continues: "No other type of heating can fully meet the future legal requirements for micro houses based on the current state of the art".
Pedersen goes even further: "The tiny house is currently the only new form of living that has gone beyond a prototype and model character and can already go into mass production today. People want smaller houses, they want houses that are more sustainable in terms of energy and the market can deliver. With the GEG amendment, politicians have now made their contribution to ensuring that this idea of an ecological micro-house living form has a real future."