"The companies interested in long-term incentives, mostly foreign subsidiaries, are now accepting that they have to do it on a cash basis, with the cost consequences that entails, " says Robert Sperl, a compensation consultant at WatsonWyatt London.
But projects such as the Bahnstadt show the energy revolution and European efficiency goals "have put very low energy buildings much more strongly in investors' focus, " said Stephan Sperl, a spokesman for German state lender KfW Bankengruppe, which offers low-interest construction loans for energy-efficient residential buildings.