Phasing out of nuclear energy and the simultaneous fulfilment of necessary climate protection aims can only be achieved if the spread of renewable energies runs parallel to enhanced energy efficiency. In spite of this unquestioned evidence, the institutional, instrumental and technical strategies of these two pathways are not optimally linked with each other yet.
The overall aim of this project is to improve the "energy balance" by combining measures in the range of renewables and energy efficiency in a goal-oriented way. Therefore, a systematic analysis of existing energy scenarios and social concepts, e.g. "2,000 Watt-Society", belongs to the tasks of this research project. The field of buildings will be of special interest, being analysed by interviewing experts of the housing industry, private builder-owners, architects and craftspersons as well as by extrapolated calculations by means of a building model.
Further tasks of this project are to frame the concept of the competition "Energy Balance - Optimal System Solutions of Renewable Energies and Efficiency" and a systematical analysis of different policy instruments.
The following results are expected:

• identification and presentation of real system solutions at which renewable energies and efficiency have been successfully linked;
• identification and analysis of conflicts and synergies;
• analysis of alternating stimulational mechanisms in essential policy instruments;
• generation of ideas of integrated and overlapping political appendages.