The Greens have been trying in vain for over three and a half years to install a heat pump in their party headquarters in Berlin-Mitte. Originally, they wanted to use the renovation of their federal headquarters to both renovate the rooms and make the heating system more environmentally friendly. However, research by “Der Spiegel” shows that the Greens have had little success so far and have had to deal with many setbacks (Spiegel: 09.06.23). The pump is still not working and the rebuilding work is not yet completed.
Green Party headquarters struggles with challenges: Difficult installation and approval procedures for heat pump.
The Greens want to push the energy turnaround with the Building Energy Act, which is supported by Vice Chancellor and Economics Minister Robert Habeck. This also affects old buildings such as the Green Party headquarters. In order to be able to heat the building with renewable energy, it was necessary to install a complex system of pipes and cables. The installation proved to be particularly difficult.
However, there are even more profound problems. In order for the heat pump to function at all and distribute heat in the building, a hole must be drilled for a geothermal probe, as is common with many models. This requires a permit, a special drilling machine and trained personnel. Only recently was it possible to lift the special drilling machine over the roof into the inner courtyard of the party headquarters.
Heat pump in Green Party headquarters – more than 3 years of construction and 5 million costs so far.
According to a spokeswoman for the party, drilling was carried out in the courtyard from 22 May to 2 June 2023. The Greens hope that they will soon be able to use the heat from deep in the earth to provide heating. The spokesperson indicated that the heat pump is expected to be operational towards the end of the third quarter, which is more than three and a half years after construction began. The entire conversion is expected to have cost about five million euros.