The German renovation firm Ecoworks has come up with a way to make old buildings energy efficient by putting a high tech facade on them. They first take a 3D scan of the building, and then prefabricate wood panels of the identical shape to be attached to the outside. The facades come with built-in solar panels plus insulation, and can be installed in as little as 20 minutes. They have turned some of the most inefficient buildings in Germany into net-energy producers.



In one demonstration an apartment block from the 1930’s that used 450 kilowatt-hours per square meter (extremely inefficient) was equipped with Ecoworks panels. It became so inexpensive to heat, cool, and power the building, that the solar panels on the roof made it carbon-negative. Before that it had been among the least efficient buildings in the country. So far the company is working mostly on older apartment blocks like this, because it is easier to match the panels to their shape. But soon they will be able to adapt them for use in family homes, schools and businesses. Over 30 million buildings in Germany will need renovation in order to meet the climate targets for 2030.