With the aim of making a measurable contribution to climate protection, women entrepreneurs in the skilled trades worked together with IZT scientists to develop and test market-ready, energy-efficient services. The project was carried out as part of the "National Climate Protection Initiative". The final event took place on 14 October 2016 in Berlin. The results of the project - 15 services - were clearly presented in a public brochure.

On the conception of the research project: The skilled crafts sector makes a significant contribution to the implementation of the German government's climate protection goals. However, the potential is far from exhausted. Especially with innovative services, new approaches to solutions - also in cooperation with other companies or at the interface to consumers - can be systematically developed. The overarching goal of the project was to raise this potential in a targeted manner with and for women entrepreneurs in the skilled crafts sector. The multipliers were associations and women entrepreneurs who are self-employed in the skilled crafts sector, who are master craftswomen or who have wives, partners, daughters or daughters-in-law who are typically fully involved in the decision-making processes of the company. Systematic service development should be used as a procedural model. Networking as well as active public relations work are the elements of permanence. The progress of the project was continuously evaluated with regard to the benefits for climate protection and efficiency.

Today, the promotion of climate protection and energy efficiency by the skilled trades is primarily linked to the sale and installation of energy-efficient systems and processes. The best-known example is the energy-efficient refurbishment of buildings. Small and medium-sized craft businesses provide (certified) energy (efficiency) services by providing information and advice to households, trade and industry. However, the possibilities of services in the skilled crafts sector for climate protection and energy efficiency go much further: the examples of "small system contracting" or heat supply (in co-operation with the energy industry) show that innovations with services, consumer orientation and partnerships with third parties offer great potential for increasing the renovation rate. Innovative services based on information and communication technologies - discussed under the keyword "smart home" - can also make a significant contribution to energy efficiency and be disseminated on the market by the skilled trades. Like products and processes, energy (efficiency) services can be systematically developed. This is a key finding of the German government's service research, which is known as "service engineering". According to Bullinger/Scheer, service engineering is the systematic development and design of services with the aid of suitable models and tools. It helps to specify, define and structure the development process for services. The economic benefit lies in the fact that services can now be designed systematically and holistically. According to Harms, the "Service Engineering" process model has been tried and tested in medium-sized companies.

The project deliberately focussed on women entrepreneurs and master craftswomen. In around 85 per cent of all craft businesses, a woman entrepreneur is the "soul of the business" - and of innovation. This was stated by Federal Minister Dr Christine Bergmann on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of UHF in Berlin. Around 8,000 women entrepreneurs in the skilled trades have joined the Organisation of Women Entrepreneurs in the Skilled Trades (UFH) throughout Germany. According to a study by the Ludwig Fröhler Institute, 30 per cent of employees in the skilled trades sector nationwide are women.

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