From the archive
25 Oct 2026
On a minus-five afternoon in Berlin, Liz Eve gave her thermography camera and her phone to the people she shares a building with, and they pointed them at walls, windows and doors. In one flat heated to over 19 degrees, the uninsulated gable wall showed close to 12. Orange streaks marked warm air escaping round window frames and flat doors. One owner, who had already taped her windows and was wearing extra layers indoors, said they needed "to work together to fix it".
Eve's block is 108 years old and has fifteen owners. Gas prices roughly tripled between late 2021 and the end of 2022, as Russia invaded Ukraine. The worry over bills did not bring the owners to a shared plan. It showed how hard one would be to reach. She turned that difficulty into her MSc at the Centre for Alternative Technology. She drew on interviews and an occupant survey, and she set up an Energie-AG, an official working group within her own building.
Any significant job on the building needs two-thirds of the owners to vote for it, whether that is a new roof or an insulated façade. Some of those owners have never met. Nine million German flats sit in associations run on this rule, known as WEGs. The renovation roadmap drawn up for Eve's block came to €2 million, around €60,000 for a 50 m² flat. Subsidies and KfW loans help, but older owners living on fixed incomes are strongly reluctant to borrow.
Owners lean on the Hausverwaltung, the property manager, to get things done, and the manager can be handed more work than the hours allow. Some pilot schemes have trained managers in climate matters. Many still have neither the know-how nor a reason to argue for renovation. Because costs are split by ownership share, the owners also watch one another warily. Eve asked ten management companies to take part in her research. None agreed to an interview.
Borrow or hire a thermal camera and choose a properly cold afternoon. The Berlin group went out at minus five. Give the camera to the neighbours rather than holding it yourself, and let each owner photograph their own walls, window frames and door gaps. Bring the pictures to the next owners' meeting as the first agenda item, before anyone mentions cost.
Centre for Alternative Technology · Read the source