New tech­no­lo­gies for the hea­ting tur­naround – Bun­des­tag buil­ding com­mit­tee finds out more in Mann­heim

As part of their visit to the BUGA, a delegation from the Bundestag’s Building Committee visited PAUL Tech AG in Mannheim last Wednesday. Founders Sascha Müller (CEO) and Maiko Dufner showed the committee how energy and CO2 can be saved quickly and significantly in buildings.

PAUL technology enables the sensible use of heat pumps in existing buildings – in line with the German Building Energy Act (GEG). The initiative for the visit came from Isabel Cademartori (SPD), a member of the Bundestag from the constituency of Mannheim.

The eight participants, including Bernhard Daldrup (MdB), the SPD parliamentary group’s spokesperson for building and municipal policy, showed great interest in the control system, which uses artificial intelligence to quickly optimize the energy efficiency of buildings and improve their energy efficiency rating. The technology is minimally invasive. Control of water-bearing systems in buildings, such as heating and hot water systems (hydronic balancing), is essential in advancing the energy transition and achieving climate targets.

Isabel Cademartori (SPD Member of Parliament): “The energy transition must be driven forward – we all agree. The best way to do this is with innovative technologies that can be deployed quickly and cost-effectively. I am delighted that a technology leader like PAUL Tech AG comes from my hometown of Mannheim. We can only achieve the ambitious climate targets if we use all the solutions to improve the energy efficiency of buildings. Today, we had the opportunity to get to know one of them better. I want to thank you very much for that.”

Bernhard Daldrup (SPD member of the Bundestag and spokesman for construction and local government policy): “I was delighted to learn about a technology that can be a crucial lever in helping the housing industry to improve the energy efficiency of its buildings. And with little effort and, above all, without any loss of comfort for the residents or tenants.“

Sascha Müller (founder and CEO of PAUL Tech AG): “We have a good basis for the ‘heat transition’ with the GEG but have not yet made enough progress in implementation. This is not because – and PAUL is the perfect example – we don’t have any technological solutions, but because of the implementation! We are delighted at the interest shown by Bundestag’s Construction Committee members, who looked in detail at the topic of digital and AI-based transformation of the real estate industry from a technical perspective. However, we also gave them a task because we need financing models to fund the heating transition. The heating transition can only be mastered if tenants, landlords and politicians work hand in hand on solutions.”

How the PAUL control system works

With PAUL, existing buildings can significantly save energy and CO₂ emissions. The company centrally digitalizes the building’s heating and hot water system. The integrated sensors and actuators – motorized valves – automatically carry out adaptive hydronic balancing: The issue for the housing industry, which is obliged by the Energy Saving Ordinance to carry out hydronic balancing regularly. Doing this conventionally within the required specifications presents the industry with immense challenges. PAUL performs hydraulic balancing digitally and continuously optimizes it with the help of AI. This pioneering technology not only ensures hydronic balancing, but the energy savings achieved by PAUL make the use of heat pumps in existing buildings possible.