OREANDA-NEWS. December 27, 2012. Located on the campus of Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, the student residence Inter II, which recently underwent an extensive energy-saving modernisation through Programme "Energy-efficient Refurbishment", is now reopening its doors. The Student Services Mainz received a KfW loan for EUR 17.7 million in order to bring a total of six buildings with 543 housing units up to a high energy-efficiency standard. In addition, the Student Services will be granted repayment bonuses of up to EUR 2.9 million. The greatly reduced-interest loans and the repayment bonuses will be supported through funds of the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development.

In addition to insulation of the building shells, other measures include installation of multi-glazed insulating glass, ventilation systems and biomass heating systems. The refurbishment was very ambitious as all six buildings in the housing complex have attained at least the demanding KfW efficiency house standard 85, which is below the currently required levels for new buildings.

Dr Peter Ramsauer, the Federal Minister of Transport, Building and Urban Development: "We must act together in order to quickly make appropriate housing available for students. I am very pleased that KfW is partnering with us with its promotional programmes. KfW was also an active contributor to my "Round Table" on student housing. Mainz serves as a great model that shows these measures are successful."

Dr Axel Nawrath, member of KfW's Executive Board: "Our promotion provides strong leverage and creates affordable energy-efficient housing for students. The Student Services Mainz recognised these advantages early on and with competent support made use of the demanding promotional programmes in an optimal way."

The student housing complex offers furnished shared common rooms and different apartments equipped with modern furnishings. The housing units also include cable television connections and free internet access.

Through its Energy-efficient Refurbishment programme, KfW offers promotional loans for energy-efficient modernisation of student residence halls at an effective annual interest rate of 1.00 %. Once the KfW efficiency house standard is reached, a repayment bonus of up to 12.5 %, i.e. EUR 9,375 per housing unit, will also be granted. The programme Energy-efficient Construction with very similar conditions is available for new buildings. Financing is available to all applicants who invest in energy-efficient housing, in particular private builders and housing cooperatives as well as student services.