Our homes, apartments and offices account for one-third of greenhouse gas emissions and should be converted as quickly as possible to low-emission energy systems to meet Paris climate targets. However, with few exceptions, the great change in buildings is far from over: In the middle of Vienna, for example, a tenant owner has created a precedent by refurbishing the passive house renovation of his Wilhelminian style building. In turn, a cooperative residential building in Zurich has already achieved the climate goals of Paris by saving living space and resources in its new building. And even isolated homeowners have found ways to reduce their energy consumption and thus also to calm their environmental conscience by relying on sustainable heating systems beyond oil and gas and thermal insulation.

But how ecological are pellets and the heat pump actually and do dams really pay off? And how else can the energy demand in a household be controlled apart from heating and cooling otherwise? Designer Anna Katharina Wohlgenannt deals with the energetic rebuilding and new construction of our apartments and houses in this new Kurt Langbein production for ORF III and explores the question where the honest intentions of this billion-dollar market end with ecologically added value and where the business of profiteering begins. Is energy efficiency just an illusion? And does the energy turnaround ultimately fail because of low energy prices?