Germany’s large environmental foundation funds innovation, not buildings. Included here because groups keep proposing their ecological new-build to it and are refused.
- The disqualifier: DBU does not fund “reine Investitionsvorhaben”, nor “bereits begonnene Vorhaben”, nor the “Erfüllung gesetzlicher Pflichtaufgaben”. Building a house to current standards is exactly that.
- What can fit: a project with genuine Modellcharakter — an untried construction method, a reuse/Ressourcen concept, a Quartier-scale demonstration — run as a project alongside the build. The relevant Förderthema is “Bauen & Quartier” (others: Ressourcen, Energie, Kulturgüter, Naturschutz, Wasser).
- Who may apply: “kleine und mittlere Unternehmen, Vereine, Organisationen, Verbände, Gebietskörperschaften, wissenschaftliche Einrichtungen und Hochschulen”. Natural persons and state bodies only exceptionally. KMU are favoured but not exclusive.
Related
- kfw-261, bafa-beg-em — the real money for ecological building quality
- ev-association, gmbh-ggmbh-project — plausible applicant forms
- staedtebaufoerderung — the Quartier-scale public alternative
Detail
- Money: “Die Fördermittelsumme pro Projekt (ohne Eigenanteil) liegt häufig zwischen 100.000 € und 400.000 €.” Typical Förderquote 50 % on a cost basis; universities and public bodies up to 100 % on an expense basis; companies usually carry 75 % of development and 50 % of research costs themselves.
- Path: an idea sketch to DBU first, then a full application; nothing may have started before the Bewilligung.
- Honest read for a cohousing group: treat DBU as a research partner for one distinctive component, ideally with a Hochschule co-applicant — not as a source of construction money. bafa-beg-em and kfw-261 are where the building’s ecological cost is actually subsidised.