Climate-friendly municipal new-build grant (498/499)
Grants covering 10% of capped eligible costs for German municipalities building or buying new homes and other buildings that meet energy and lifecycle-emissions standards.
Denne finansieringsmuligheten er foreløpig beskrevet på engelsk.
Programmes 498 (homes) and 499 (other buildings) support new construction and the first purchase within 12 months of formal acceptance of the building work. The routes below cover Klimafreundlicher Neubau at efficiency level 40, with or without sustainability certification, and Klimafreundlicher Neubau im Niedrigpreissegment (KNN), the low-price variant. This is a grant, not a loan: you do not normally repay it, but must meet the funding conditions.
The grant is 10% of eligible costs, subject to these limits:
| Route | Homes: maximum grant per dwelling | Other buildings: eligible cost limits and maximum grant |
|---|---|---|
| Climate-friendly level 40 | €10,000, from up to €100,000 of costs | €1,500/m² net floor area, at most €7.5 million of costs; grant up to €750,000 |
| Level 40 with QNG sustainability certification | €15,000, from up to €150,000 of costs | €2,000/m² net floor area, at most €10 million of costs; grant up to €1 million |
| Low-price KNN | €10,000, from up to €100,000 of costs | €1,000/m² net floor area, at most €5 million of costs; grant up to €500,000 |
For non-residential buildings, both the floor-area and project cost limits apply. You cover costs not met by the grant through other financing.
Eligible costs include construction, building systems needed to operate the building, expert planning and construction supervision, and the required emissions, cost and certification work. Land is excluded. For work done in-house, only directly related materials qualify, with expert confirmation of the work and costs. Recoverable VAT is excluded; the grant cannot later be increased beyond the scope requested in the application.
Eligibility
German municipalities and districts, their enterprises without separate legal personality, municipal associations and equivalent special-purpose associations can apply as the construction client or first buyer. City-states and their enterprises qualify when carrying out tasks handled by municipalities in other states. Federal and state governments and their institutions are otherwise excluded, as are political parties.
The building must be in Germany and fall under the German Building Energy Act (GEG). Keep it in its approved use for at least ten years. Report a change or end of use or demolition promptly; KfW can reclaim part of the grant. On sale, tell the buyer about the funding, continuing use duty and prohibition on worsening energy performance.
- Level 40 routes: Efficiency House 40 or Efficiency Building 40 means calculated annual primary-energy demand must not exceed 40% of the statutory reference building's, alongside limits on heat escaping through its outer surfaces. An expert must also calculate greenhouse-gas emissions across the building's life and show that the programme's limits are met. The higher-cap QNG route additionally requires accredited certification to QNG-PLUS or QNG-PREMIUM, confirming the building meets the quality seal's sustainability requirements.
- Low-price KNN: the corresponding energy-demand limit is 55% of the reference building's, with separate insulation limits. Residential buildings must meet QNG-PLUS lifecycle-emissions limits; non-residential buildings must meet QNG-PREMIUM limits. Full QNG certification is not required for KNN.
- KNN homes also pass cost and room tests. The mandatory KNN tool compares selected construction costs spread over 50 years plus annual heating and hot-water energy costs with a project-specific reference adjusted for regional prices. The calculated modified lifecycle costs must not exceed this limit. Each dwelling must provide at least 1, 2, 3 or 4 habitable rooms for floor areas up to 40, 55, 70 or 85 m² respectively, then one extra room per additional 15 m². Wheelchair-accessible dwellings meeting DIN 18040-2 R-standard have limits of 55, 70, 85 and 100 m² instead. Count enclosed habitable rooms under state building law of at least 10 m²; kitchens may be open, bathrooms do not count. For buildings with at least 12 dwellings, no more than 25% may be homes of up to 40 m²; residential homes such as care homes are exempt from that share limit.
- Heating: building equipment must not burn fossil fuels or biomass, including hybrid systems; for non-residential buildings this also applies to cooling equipment. A heat network serving up to 16 buildings and 100 dwellings may obtain up to 30% of its annual heat from these fuels if it serves at least one building built before 1995 or with a building application before 1 January 1995. Other heat networks are not subject to this fuel restriction.
- Heat pumps must allow automatic control to support the electricity grid and connection to a certified smart-meter gateway for energy measurement and control. Outdoor air-heat-pump units must be at least 10 dB below the EU 813/2013 noise limits from 2026. Only natural refrigerants may be used in heat pumps installed from 1 January 2027.
- No land purchases, refinancing of completed projects or repeated KFN/KNN funding for the same building or dwellings. A first purchase artificially split into land and construction contracts is excluded where a single contract covered by the German developer rules could have been used.
- Other public loans and grants may be combined only within total eligible costs. No BEG building-efficiency support for the same measure, or support for the same costs under the NKI cooling/air-conditioning directive, combined heat and power law (KWKG), renewable energy law (EEG) or federal efficient heat-network funding (BEW).
How to apply
- Status
- Løpende søknader
- Vilkår for søknadsrunden
- For the level-40 and KNN routes described here. Funding depends on available budget; no legal entitlement. Obtain KfW approval before project start, subject to the conditional-contract rule.
- Commission an independent energy-efficiency expert from the federal expert list in the relevant residential or non-residential category. The expert checks the design and prepares the application confirmation, BzA or (g)BzA, which you sign. Commission and pay the expert separately from construction firms and suppliers. For the QNG route, also engage a sustainability adviser and certification body; for KNN homes the cost and room calculations must use the KNN tool.
- Send the grant application form 600 000 4862, available on the official programme page, with the expert confirmation directly to KfW Niederlassung Berlin, 10865 Berlin. Apply and obtain approval before starting: ordinarily, signing a construction, supply or purchase contract already counts as starting. Planning and advice can take place earlier. For a new hospital, indoor or outdoor swimming pool, or a project legally requiring an environmental impact assessment, include additional information about its environmental and social effects.
- Early contracts are possible if they contain a suspensive condition making them dependent on the grant approval. Use the contract guidance on the official page; this condition cannot be added retrospectively. Do not rely on the money before approval: awards depend on available funds and are not a legal entitlement.
- After completion, submit the expert's completion confirmation, (g)BnD, signed by the recipient, promptly and no later than 72 months after approval. KfW pays after checking it. Keep the required documentation for ten years after approval. Invoices must identify the work and property, be in German and euros, and be paid without cash; retain payment evidence.