“At ecogreen, we have been providing expert advice on funding for energy effi­ciency projects – espe­cially retro­fits – for ten years. We see ourselves as a kind of tax consul­tant. The compa­nies them­selves or the plan­ning offices provide us with the neces­sary docu­men­ta­tion at the customer’s request. Then we take care of the funding – from the proposal stage through to the veri­fi­ca­tion proce­dure and the point at which the money is paid out.

We have managed to success­fully secure funding for over 1,700 projects. In recent years, we have managed 200 to 300 each year. 90 million euros in funding have been paid out for these projects, which have saved 200,000 metric tons of CO₂. After all, we have a 100 percent success rate at securing funding!

We have a 100 percent success rate at securing funding!

Marcel Rieth­müller, Managing Director of ecogreen

 To main­tain this success rate, we work on the basis of a very simple prin­ciple. At the begin­ning, we take a close look at the projects to check whether they could attract funding. What will the project cost and what could it secure in funding? Is it worth it? In the case of fans, the N grade (which indi­cates the fan’s effi­ciency) is a deci­sive factor for us. With this approach, we only apply for funding for projects that will be successful. It’s impor­tant to ensure this assess­ment is free of charge. That’s because we want to avoid any finan­cial risk for our customers or for us.

The end customer only pays for our services after they have been granted the funding. Customers just need to make sure they contact us early on. Funding for projects such as retro­fits may only be requested before they are commis­sioned. Once this funding has been confirmed, it is possible to proceed without finan­cial risk.

Once this funding has been confirmed, it is possible to proceed without finan­cial risk.

Marcel Rieth­müller, Managing Director of ecogreen

 At the moment there is a special funding program that we make use of: the Bundes­förderung für Energieef­fizienz in der Wirtschaft (German fund for energy effi­ciency in busi­ness) program. In the module on cross-section tech­nolo­gies, motors and fans are listed as indi­vidual items that can be funded. And the program is certainly a lucra­tive one. Larger compa­nies receive up to 30 percent in funding, and small and medium-sized enter­prises as much as 40 percent. This is in rela­tion to the fan, but also to other activ­i­ties such as the instal­la­tion and addi­tional mate­rials.

Larger compa­nies receive up to 30 percent in funding, and small and medium-sized enter­prises as much as 40 percent.

Marcel Rieth­müller, Managing Director of ecogreen

 At EU level, around 270 billion euros have been reserved for energy effi­ciency projects. There is also the economic aspect to consider. Every euro that we invest in funding will result in around 10 to 37 euros of economic output. So in addi­tion to the energy savings secured through retro­fits, there are other finan­cial gains. Further­more, if we receive funding for a project, it should be completed within 24 months. This may mean that a retrofit can be imple­mented more quickly than planned. All I can say is: Go green with ecogreen!”