June 17: One third of new residential buildings in Germany included a heat pump in 2016

June 2017

The share of heat pumps in newly constructed residential buildings in Germany grew slightly in 2016 to 31.8 percent, up 0.4 percent on 2015, figures released by the country’s Federal Statistical Office show.

The BWP heat pump industry association reports that buildings with one or two residential units were particularly well represented (34.0 percent), while heat pumps maintained their market share in multi-unit buildings (16.0 percent) and non-residential buildings (13.6 percent).

A total of 36,500 new buildings were equipped with heat pumps, around 2000 more than the previous year, in part due to Germany’s strong construction sector, the BWP notes.

The south-western federal state of Baden-Württemberg was a clear leader, where heat pumps took a 47.9 percent share - up 6.6 percent.

The official statistics differentiate between geothermal and so-called “environmental heat” systems, the latter denoting air- and groundwater-source heat pumps. Environmental heat source systems were by far the most popular choice, with the vast majority of these being air-source systems, according to the BWP. Geothermal sources accounted for 6.8 percent of the heat pumps installed with strong regional variations in the technology employed.

The BWP expects a strong 2017 after the share of heat pumps in new residential buildings granted a construction permit in 2016 rose to 37.4 percent. Buildings permitted in 2016 (and thus likely to be completed in 2017) must fulfill tighter efficiency regulations than those permitted in 2015.

Read more:

• BWP: Press release (in German)