The bioeconomy can be a central building block for the transformation of our largely coal, oil and gas-based economy. However, renewable raw materials and synthetic carbon compounds are scarce and expensive. They should be used in areas such as the chemical industry - not as energy sources. For the shift from a fossil-based economy to a bioeconomy to succeed, fossil carbon must also become more expensive. The ifeu now presents the results of four trend-setting studies.
Kategorie für Blog: Life cycle assessment
43 posts
In December 2020, the German Timber Industry Association (HDH) launched the "Initiative for Climate Protection in the Timber Industry". The aim is to support the industry companies in the necessary reduction of CO2 emissions. The initiative is now being further developed into an innovation cluster.
Author of the book review: Roman Schaurhofer, Vienna
The construction volume "Commercial Buildings in Clay and Wood - Added Value through Material" was published in 2020 by Sabine Djahanschah of the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (German Federal Foundation for the Environment) at Verlag Detail. The publication, which appeared in book form, deals with the use of the building materials wood and clay in the construction of commercially used buildings. To this end, six buildings with commercial use were analysed in terms of their architectural construction and technical quality features and evaluated with the help of measurements, surveys and life cycle assessments.
Storms, drought and insect infestations have caused a great deal of damage to Germany's forests over the past three years. The "International Day of Forests" on 21 March is a good time to become aware of the many services provided by the forest.
A broad alliance of actors from civil society, science, industry and practice is calling on the German government to promote the climate-friendly construction, maintenance and demolition of buildings. Up to now, only the use phase of buildings has been taken into account in state subsidies for buildings and in the Building Energy Act. There is a complete lack of specifications and consideration of the climate impact of building materials and the construction and disposal of buildings - despite the fact that the construction sector, with its upstream and downstream processes, contributes around 8 percent to German greenhouse gas emissions.
The ecological model settlement on a former barracks site in Munich sets new standards in timber construction. Various timber construction methods and building types up to seven storeys are being tested side by side in eight building projects with the aim of a final scientific evaluation. Timber frame, timber frame and timber hybrid construction methods are being used.
With the architect Amandus Samsøe Sattler, the German Sustainable Building Council - DGNB e.V. has a new president. In this role, he succeeds Prof. Alexander Rudolphi, who will continue his work on the association's executive committee. The change was announced today during the DGNB Sustainability Day in Stuttgart. The election was held on the eve of the event by the ten members of the DGNB Executive Committee. Samsøe Sattler will initially take over the office until the next DGNB general meeting in the middle of next year.
Lecture "Can we build our way out of the climate crisis?" from 16 April 2020
Among other things, Schellnhuber calls for "prompt measures to achieve the two-degree target, above all by switching from fossil to renewable energy sources and replacing finite building materials with wood and renewable raw materials."
A research project conducted by natureplus in conjunction with IFEU compares insulation materials with regard to their environmental impact throughout their entire life cycle, including recovery and recycling.
Which insulation material is the best? This question is extremely popular in the construction industry and can ultimately only be answered in the context of the respective construction. In particular, there has so far been a lack of a holistic overview that enables builders and planners to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the various insulation material alternatives in terms of their life cycle assessment, without having to disregard subsequent disposal.
27.01.2020 A material revolution that replaces cement and steel with wood in urban construction can have double benefits for climate stabilization. This is now shown in a study by an international team of scientists. First, it can avoid greenhouse gas emissions from cement and steel production. Secondly, it can turn buildings into carbon sinks, since in the construction timber the CO2 is stored. Although the required amount of wood is theoretically available, such an expansion would require very careful sustainable forest management, the authors emphasize.
The share of renewable energies in electricity consumption rises to almost 43 percent. The climate protection successes in the electricity sector are diminished by rising greenhouse gas emissions in buildings and transport. In parallel, public interest in climate protection is rising: since May 2019, it has consistently been the most pressing political issue in the eyes of the population. This is shown by Agora Energiewende's 2019 annual evaluation.
ROBIN WOOD has scrutinized the green electricity offers of 1,200 providers and publishes the results today in the "ROBIN WOOD Eco-Electricity Report 2020.". The environmental organization rates eight offers as recommendable. The current research report was realized with the support of the Open Knowledge Foundation Germany.
Senate adopts concrete measures for the next ten years and sets new CO2-targets for 2030 and 2050
December 3, 2019. Today, the Senate has set two decisive courses to achieve Hamburg's climate goals with an update of its climate plan and a new climate protection law. CO2 emissions are to fall by 55 percent by 2030, and Hamburg is to become climate-neutral by 2050. The climate plan describes the responsibility and the respective CO2 reduction targets in the sectors "transport", "private households", "trade, services, commerce" and "industry". It contains a large number of concrete measures which are to lead to the necessary reduction of CO2 emissions by 2030. The draft of the new climate protection law creates a binding legal framework for this.
Decentrally generated electricity from renewable energies can cover the demand for electrical energy in Bavaria both in balance and in perspective. This is the result of a joint study by the grid operators Bayernwerk Netz GmbH (Bayernwerk), LEW Verteilnetz GmbH (LVN) and Main-Donau Netzgesellschaft. The Bavarian power grid operators have analysed which development paths are possible for Bavaria with regard to renewable power generation and whether climate neutrality can be achieved in the power sector. The grid operators received scientific support from the Forschungsstelle für Energiewirtschaft e.V. (Research Centre for Energy Economics).
On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of Eurosolar, filmmaker Carl-A. Fechner has created a three-minute film about Hermann Scheer, the founder of Eurosolar.
(6:25 min.) published on 5.11.2019 The city of Eschweiler (North Rhine-Westphalia) has been awarded the "Climate Active Municipality 2019" climate protection prize by the Federal Ministry for the Environment in Category 1: "Resource and energy efficiency in the municipality". The city of Eschweiler is committed to more resource and climate protection with its Factor X construction areas. The prize is awarded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMU) as part of the National Climate Initiative (NKI), which is implemented by the German Institute of Urban Affairs gGmbh (Difu).
Dresden, 22.10.2019 Heliatek, the world's leading provider of organic solar energy solutions, announces that its award-winning technology has been certified by TÜV Rheinland as having a carbon footprint of less than 16 kg CO2e/m2 in a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). For a sustainable future in an ever more [...]
With the timber construction funding program, the city wants to promote concrete timber buildings, especially in residential construction Timber Construction Guide presents 29 realized and forward-looking timber construction projects in Freiburg More climate protection with the renewable raw material wood. Timber construction in Freiburg is an important instrument for climate protection and indispensable for achieving the city's ambitious climate protection goals. […]
The carbon footprint calculator developed by the ifeu Institute in Heidelberg can be used to calculate the greenhouse gas emissions of food. The website also provides tips and advice on how to become a "climatarian", i.e. how to adopt a climate-friendly diet. The CO2 foodprint is calculated. This is the proportion of one's CO2 emissions that are caused by food. Link www.klimatarier.com/de/CO2_Rechner
According to a new study by EU scientists, one percent of the EU's surface area is enough to cover the community's entire electricity needs with solar power. https://www.solarserver.de/solar-magazin/nachrichten/aktuelles/2019/kw40/europa-unabhaengig-mit-solarstrom.html
From the meeting of the Berlin Senate on 24 September 2019: At its meeting today, the Senate adopted the report to the House of Representatives on "Sustainability in construction: Berlin builds with wood", following a presentation by the Senator for the Environment, Transport and Climate Protection, Regine Günther. The Senate is consistently pursuing the goal of making Berlin [...]
With funding from the federal funding programme "Unternehmen Revier", the Faktor X agency of the development company has developed an internet-based tool for easily calculating the resource efficiency of your own construction project. The tool has now undergone final testing and will be available online from September.
In 2018, Deutsche Bahn fed 57 percent green electricity into the grid. This is an increase of 13 percent in electricity from renewable energies compared to the previous year.
The study "Greenhouse Gas Balancing of Timber Buildings -Implementation of New Requirements for Life Cycle Assessments and Determination of Empirical Substitution Factors (GHG Timber Construction)" led by Prof. Dr. Annette Hafner (RuhrUni Bochum) has now been published. Download: http://forum-holzbau.com/nl_pdf/nl134_rub.pdf
The 88th Conference of Environment Ministers has just passed a resolution in Bad Saarow on the "Promotion of Building with Wood", which was introduced by Rhineland-Palatinate. The document calls on the federal government to improve the framework conditions for timber construction. As the environmental minister of Rhineland-Palatinate reports, among other things, the positive climate protection properties of renewable raw materials are to be taken into account in the building energy [...]
Since February 2017, the houses of Chiemgauer Holzhaus have been able to distinguish themselves with the RAL quality mark GZ 425. This is because the solid wood houses achieve a GWP (Global Warming Potential) value of less than zero in their carbon footprint. This has been tested by the "Gütegemeinschaft CO2 neutrale Bauwerke in Holz e.V.". Taking into account all the necessary materials, such as [...]
The Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR) has published two brochures providing information on the portals ÖKOBAUDAT and WECOBIS. WECOBIS - Web-based ecological building materials information system Download (PDF, 5MB) www.bbsr.bund.de/...2014-16/band-07-dl.pdf ÖKOBAUDAT - Basis for life cycle assessment Download (PDF, 7MB) www.bbsr.bund.de/...2017/band-09-dl.pdf
(2017) Over the last 30 years, numerous tools have been developed to assess the environmental or sustainable aspects of buildings. This book discusses the role these tools can play in the implementation of the UN's 'New Urban Agenda'.
In contrast to combustion engines, the amount of energy required to produce the batteries plays a greater role in electric cars. According to the IFEU Institute in Heidelberg, CO2 emissions can be estimated at around 125 kg for one kWh of battery capacity. The production of an electricity storage unit with 24 kWh thus generates about three tons of CO2. In contrast, the resulting [...]
The study "Method development for the description of target values for primary energy consumption and CO2 equivalent of building constructions for linking with property allocation and quality assurance up to design planning" of the RuhrUni Bochum under the direction of Prof. Dr. Annette Hafner has now been published and is available for download. Download: www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/...2016_dbu-abschlussbericht...pdf
More than insulation: The life cycle assessment of a house is decided by the choice of building materials. Another comparison with clear results. Click here for the life cycle assessment study by ÖkoPlus AG
With efficiency, greater electrification and renewable energies it is possible to organise transport that is completely neutral in terms of greenhouse gases without having to accept any restrictions on growth and quality of life. This is the result of scenarios developed by the Öko-Institut and presented today in Berlin by Parliamentary State Secretary Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter. The scenarios for greenhouse gas-neutral transport were developed jointly [...]
In Jerry Yudelson's latest book, "Reinventing Green Building: Why Certification Systems Aren't Working and What We Can Do About It," published in June 2016, the American pioneer of sustainable building writes that certification systems are not advancing the needed sustainable development in the building sector quickly and substantially enough.
In June 2016, the state government adopted a sustainability strategy for NRW. It is the first federal state to commit to implementing the global sustainability goals of the United Nations and has defined a system of targets and indicators for key areas of action.
Method for the holistic analysis of planning concepts by Stephan Anders 39,- Euro | ISBN 978-3-946319-02-3, 310 pages with numerous color illustrations, 19 x 25,5 cm, Softcover - May 2016 Melting glaciers, floods and the smog in cities are just a few visible signs of the need for sustainable development. Sustainable neighborhoods can [...]
ExWoSt Information 48/1 (April 2016) This issue of ExWoSt Information provides an up-to-date and well-founded overview of common balancing tools and also introduces you to one that was developed as part of the ExWoSt predecessor study "Requirements for energy-efficient and climate-neutral neighbourhoods (EQ)". Publisher Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR) at the Federal Office for [...]
