Challenges for the Financial Industry
This issue is becoming increasingly relevant for banks and insurers. Rough estimates are not sufficient to reliably assess real estate collateral, holdings, and portfolios. This presents a concrete challenge for financial and insurance companies: energy-related risks must be identifiable, comparable, and documentable at the portfolio level. At the same time, many portfolios lack reliable building data needed to efficiently assess renovation needs, CO₂ equivalents, and energy efficiency ratings. Without a valid data foundation, it remains unclear which properties will retain their value in the long term and where regulatory or economic risks may arise.
EnergyCheck by SkenData
This is exactly where the SkenData EnergyCheck comes in. It assesses the energy efficiency of residential buildings digitally, in accordance with industry standards, and in real time. All it takes is entering an address and answering a few additional questions to receive an officially registered energy performance certificate in accordance with DIN V 18599, as well as a renovation roadmap that includes an analysis of funding opportunities and solar energy potential.
The Energy Performance Certificate provides key metrics for ESG real estate valuation, risk management, lending, and portfolio analysis. The renovation roadmap supplements this assessment with specific action plans, savings potential, and cost estimates. This transforms energy performance metrics into a transparent basis for decision-making regarding renovation, financing, and long-term portfolio development.
Regulatory developments such as the European Green Deal, the German Climate Protection Act, and increasing ESG requirements are putting pressure on the financial and insurance sectors. Buildings are no longer evaluated solely on the basis of location, condition, and market value. What is becoming increasingly crucial is their energy efficiency and the investments needed to ensure their long-term value.
More than just a label
The Energy Performance Certificate describes a building’s current energy status. It provides key metrics such as final energy demand, primary energy demand, CO₂ equivalents, and energy efficiency class. The renovation roadmap builds on this data and shows which energy-efficiency improvement measures are possible and what economic effects they may entail.
With EnergyCheck, an officially registered energy performance certificate in accordance with DIN V 18599 can be generated upon request. The calculation is based on official 3D building data from a digital twin, databases, and an audited, EU taxonomy-compliant calculation engine. This ensures that energy performance metrics are determined in a transparent, traceable, and standardized manner.
For risk management, this means that portfolios can be not only roughly clustered but also evaluated based on data regarding their energy performance, renovation needs, and potential depreciation risk. The results support internal analyses, governance processes, and regulatory documentation requirements.
For ESG baseline assessments, EnergyCheck provides relevant KPIs, including CO₂ equivalents, primary energy demand, final energy demand, and energy efficiency classes. This creates a structured data foundation that banks and insurers can use to systematically analyze and manage their real estate portfolios.
The Restructuring Roadmap as a Source of Strategic Value
The renovation roadmap helps banks and insurers identify energy-related risks in their real estate portfolios at an early stage, develop concrete renovation plans, and better incorporate investment needs into their valuations. While the energy performance certificate describes the current condition, the renovation roadmap outlines possible paths for improvement.
This makes it clear which energy-related measures are sensible, what effects they achieve, and how investments impact long-term value retention. This plays a central role in real estate risk management. Buildings with poor energy efficiency ratings—particularly G and H—may eventually become what are known as “stranded assets.” These are properties that lose value due to regulatory, energy-related, or economic changes, or that can only remain marketable with significant investment.
The renovation roadmap helps identify these risks early on and develop realistic renovation plans. For banks, this improves the basis for determining mortgage lending values and assessing loan applications. Energy-efficiency measures are not considered in isolation but are placed within an economic context. This allows for a more informed assessment of investment needs, modernization potential, and possible changes in value.
Insurers also benefit from more precise data on a building’s condition. Energy-related information, renovation potential, and documented building characteristics enable a more nuanced risk assessment. This can lead to coverage concepts that are better aligned with a building’s actual condition and future prospects.
Efficiency Through Digitalization
Scalability is especially important when dealing with large portfolios. With EnergyCheck, banks and insurers can efficiently add relevant energy data and ESG KPIs to numerous residential buildings, document this information, and make it available for further analysis.
The process is entirely digital. Simply enter an address to start the analysis, validate building data, and download the results as a PDF. In addition, EnergyCheck provides an overview of available grants and a solar potential analysis. This turns the energy assessment into a practical decision-making tool for financing, renovation, and portfolio development.
From Regulatory Requirement to Strategic Management Tool
ESG real estate valuation is evolving from a purely reporting-related issue into a key management tool for banks and insurers. Those who make building energy data available early on, in a standards-based and digital format, create a robust foundation for decisions in risk management, lending, and portfolio strategy.
SkenData EnergyCheck combines digital energy performance certificates, renovation roadmaps, information on financial incentives, and solar potential analyses into a single, efficient solution for banks, insurers, and other market participants. This not only makes it possible to document regulatory requirements but also enables them to be utilized for risk management, financing, and portfolio management.
Would you like to analyze your real estate portfolio based on standards or try out the EnergyCheck? Contact SkenData for a demo.
