About ENERGY

ENERGY

ENERGY, published as IKZ-ENERGY, is a German trade magazine for renewable energies and energy efficiency in buildings, issued by the Strobel Verlag in Arnsberg. Launched in September 2007 as "the trade magazine for renewable energies and energy efficiency in buildings", it addresses the skilled trades and planners who implement the energy transition in practice: heating and electrical installers, solar installers, roofers, façade builders, specialist wholesalers and the specialist planners of technical building equipment. With its mix of technical articles, project reports, market data, standards and industry news, it supplies the practical know-how that its readers need for their daily work in one of the most dynamic growth sectors of the construction industry.

Overview

IKZ-ENERGY is published by the STROBEL VERLAG GmbH & Co. KG in Arnsberg, a publishing house founded in 1872 that has long been one of the leading specialist publishers for the sanitary, heating and air-conditioning (SHK) and building-services industry. The magazine appears in print and as an e-paper, and its subtitle defines its program: "Das Fachmagazin für Erneuerbare Energien und Energieeffizienz in Gebäuden". Later editions carry the line "Gebäude + Effizienz + Nachhaltigkeit" – building, efficiency, sustainability.

The readership is association-independent and drawn from the executing trades and their partners. The core target groups are the heating-installation and electrical trades, solar installers, roofing companies and façade builders, the specialist wholesale trade, and the specialist planners of technical building equipment and electrical engineering, as well as energy managers and energy consultants. For the manufacturing industry the magazine serves as a marketing instrument for communicating with exactly these buyer groups, who decide in their daily practice which products and systems are installed in German buildings. The magazine's launch circulation was 22,000 copies, and from 2008 it settled into a rhythm of ten issues per year. The content spectrum covers solar technology and photovoltaics, bioenergy, geothermal energy and, in parts, wind and hydropower – the renewable technologies that matter for buildings.

The editorial program is practice-oriented. Alongside reports, project features and news from research and development, technical articles from the fields of renewable energies and energy efficiency form the core of each issue. Market data, standards and regulations, industry news from companies, trade and crafts, and product innovations complete the picture. Reports, interviews and commentaries on subsidies and framework conditions, trends and tendencies in business and energy policy round out the magazine's spectrum.

History

IKZ-ENERGY was launched in September 2007, with the second issue following in November of the same year. The launch announcement from the Strobel Verlag framed the new title as the publisher's print response to the dynamic development of renewable energies, described as one of the most successful growth industries and increasingly a key technology for efficient energy supply, resource conservation and climate protection. The publisher, whose established titles such as IKZ HAUSTECHNIK, IKZ FACHPLANER, Flüssiggas and Bad Pool Sauna already enjoyed high acceptance among market partners, saw a growing demand among its readers for well-founded information on renewable energies and energy efficiency.

The founding editor-in-chief was Hilmar Düppel, who had previously spent twelve years as editor-in-chief of the trade journal GLASWELT. His appointment signaled the publisher's ambition to build the new title with experienced trade-press leadership. From 2008 the magazine appeared ten times a year, establishing itself as a regular companion for the trades through the boom years of solar subsidies, the successive amendments of the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG), and the growing importance of heat pumps and building efficiency.

Over the years the magazine's branding evolved: the subtitle shifted toward "Gebäude + Effizienz + Nachhaltigkeit", reflecting the broadening of the energy-transition debate from individual renewable technologies to the building as an integrated energy system. The magazine is distributed in print and through the United Kiosk e-paper platform, where readers can take out trial subscriptions, order current and archive issues and special editions, and receive push notifications when a new issue appears. The Austrian market is served with its own media data through the IKZ Haustechnik Fachverlag in Vienna.

Content and Sections

The content of IKZ-ENERGY follows the technology fields of renewable energy in buildings. Solar technology and photovoltaics form a central pillar: module and inverter technology, planning and installation practice, and the economic framework of solar power. Bioenergy coverage addresses heating with biomass, from pellet boilers to biogas, while geothermal articles deal with heat pumps and near-surface geothermal systems. Wind and hydropower are covered where relevant to buildings and decentralized supply.

Technical articles translate research and development news into practical guidance for installers and planners. Project reports and site features show renewable installations in real buildings, giving readers reference examples for their own work. Market data sections provide orientation on prices and market developments, while coverage of standards and regulations keeps readers up to date with the norms that govern their installations. Industry news from manufacturers, wholesalers and crafts, together with product innovations, connects the editorial content to the commercial side of the market.

A distinctive thread is the coverage of subsidies and political framework conditions: reports, interviews and commentaries explain funding programs, legal changes and energy-policy trends, helping readers advise their customers and plan their business. This combination of technology, practice, market and policy is what defines the magazine's character as a working tool for the trades rather than a purely academic journal.

Publisher and Organization

The publisher is the STROBEL VERLAG GmbH & Co. KG in Arnsberg, founded in 1872 and one of the leading specialist publishers for the SHK and building-services industry in Germany. The publishing house's portfolio includes IKZ HAUSTECHNIK, published since 1872 and a media partner of the ZVSHK (the national federation of plumbing, heating and air-conditioning companies) and of SHK trade associations, IKZ FACHPLANER for the planners of building technology, and titles such as Flüssiggas and Bad Pool Sauna.

The founding editor-in-chief of IKZ-ENERGY was Hilmar Düppel. The publishing house operates its own reader service and advertising sales, marketing the title to the manufacturing industry as an efficient communication instrument for reaching its buyer groups: solar installers, the executing heating and electrical trades, roofers, façade builders, specialist planners and the specialist wholesale trade. The magazine's media data position it as the practice-oriented information source that supplies planners and executing trades with the knowledge they need for their daily work.

Digital Presence

IKZ-ENERGY is distributed digitally through the United Kiosk e-paper platform, where readers can read current issues, archive issues and special editions in the United Kiosk library. The e-paper app offers trial subscriptions with a free reading month, push notifications on new issues, and full-text search across all e-paper editions by topic, place or person. The magazine's content is integrated into the ikz.de portal, the digital home of the IKZ media family, which carries daily news from the SHK and building-services industry.

The portal extends the magazine's reach between print issues with continuously updated reporting on products, companies and industry developments. Newsletters and the portal's news sections keep the professional community informed about the topics that move the market, from heat-pump technology to changes in subsidy programs. The combination of a print magazine appearing ten times a year, an e-paper edition with archive and search functions, and the daily updated ikz.de portal makes IKZ-ENERGY a cross-media working tool: a print read for in-depth technical articles and a digital companion for the fast-moving daily business of the energy trades.