Energy Caravan

The Energy Caravan is a municipal energy consulting campaign designed to increase the rate of retrofitting of private building stock, which is responsible for more than a quarter of CO₂ emissions, mainly due to heat. The heat transition is therefore considered one of the greatest challenges in climate action, and a significant increase in the renovation rate is indispensable. Due to the measures implemented, the Energy Caravan campaign makes a significant contribution and addresses one of the most important municipal fields of action in the fight against climate change. Its recipe for success lies in the fact that it reverses the standard approach of energy consulting. Municipalities offer citizens in a selected neighbourhood free energy advice from neutral and qualified consultants. The consultations takes place directly at the homeowner's property and focus on all building-relevant topics. Thanks to the neighborhood approach, the Energy Caravan is just as suitable for municipalities with less than 4,500 inhabitants as for large cities.

Current references include but are not limited to:

• City of Aachen; 252,000 inhabitants
• City of Freiburg im Breisgau; 236,000 inhabitants
• City of Haan; 30,000 inhabitants
• City of Munich; 1,512,000 inhabitants
• City of Neumünster; 80,000 inhabitants
• Municipality of Riegel am Kaiserstuhl; 4,000 inhabitants
• City of Rüsselsheim; 67,000 inhabitants
• Municipality of Wenzenbach; 9,000 inhabitants

The two non-profit associations fesa e.V. and Climate Alliance cooperate to disseminate the knowledge and competences necessary to run the Energy Caravan. Together, the two organisations are making this successful campaign available to municipalities throughout Europe: despite the challenges of varying national frameworks, the project team gained a foothold in Luxemburg in 2023.

The success of the Energy Caravan has been proven by evaluating more than 80 campaigns: On average, a minimum of 25% of the target group take up the municipal offer of an free energy consultation. Of this, 60%, in turn, decide to implement measures.

With the Energy Caravan, municipalities thus have an attractive offer at hand to motivate the target group of homeowners, which has been difficult to reach up to now, to modernise their homes. At the same time, the related reduction of CO₂ emissions makes municipalities key players in the fight against climate change. The implementation of the campaign follows a standardised procedure. All steps in the process are based on customisable templates. The cooperation partners provide knowledge transfer and then accompany the municipalities throughout the project phases. This enables them to carry out the campaign independently in the future.

In the face of massively rising energy prices, the campaign offers local authorities important support for their citizens in implementing national legal frameworks and accessing subsidies. District heating planning as well as project implementation can be fostered through the communication campaign Energy Caravan. Combined with the resulting reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, municipalities are strengthened in their central role in climate action.

You have a non-profit background and are interested in anchoring the campaign in your country? Please do not hesitate to contact us!

Want to learn more? Contact Jan Schwarz at j.schwarz(at)climatealliance.org

Further information

• Best practice example from the City of Rüsselsheim am Main (DE)
• Case Study of the Energy Caravan of the City of Freiburg for the Covenant of Mayors

Energy Caravan of fesa e.V.