The Federal Cabinet today approved the draft of a timber construction initiative presented by Federal Minister of Construction Klara Geywitz and Federal Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir. This strategy of the Federal Government is intended to strengthen the use of wood as a sustainable raw material in the construction sector and to ensure more climate protection, resource efficiency and faster construction. With eight fields of action, from the exemplary role of the federal government and the strengthening of research and innovation, to securing skilled labour and knowledge transfer, to securing the supply of raw materials, the use of wood is to be significantly improved and the timber construction quota increased by 2030.
Kategorie für Blog: Housing
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The housing shortage is an immense social problem in many large cities and conurbations. At the same time, the building sector has been failing to meet its environmental and climate targets for years. In a recent position paper, the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) and the Commission for Sustainable Building at the UBA (KNBau) have examined how more affordable housing can be created without unnecessarily harming the environment and health. According to this paper, the most important factor for more environmental protection in housing construction is that the existing building stock is preserved wherever possible or is sensibly converted and repurposed. This is the easiest way to avoid climate emissions and unnecessarily high consumption of raw materials. Today, UBA President Prof. Dr. Dirk Messner presented KNBau's proposals to Federal Minister of Building Klara Geywitz and Federal Minister of the Environment Steffi Lemke in Berlin.
The Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs is supporting the climate-friendly construction of new buildings with a new funding programme that will start on 1 March 2023. For the first time, the entire life cycle of a building will be considered - from construction to operation to potential deconstruction in the distant future. The buildings are characterised by low greenhouse gas emissions in the life cycle, high energy efficiency, low operating costs and a high proportion of renewable energies for the generation of heat and electricity. This funding thus makes a contribution to climate protection and to meeting national climate targets.
Adjusted for inflation, construction volume will decline in 2022 - Price development and rising interest rates will continue to have a severe impact on the construction industry in the years to come - New residential construction will slump more than the overall construction volume - Policymakers will have to change their strategy in order to achieve their goals for the creation of new housing and energy-efficient building renovation in the medium term
The first results of the timber housing study will be presented at the 15th Congress on Efficient Building with Wood in Urban Areas on 19 October 2022 in Cologne. So far, 118 large-volume housing projects with more than 100 units have been identified across Europe by the HFR researchers, 47 of which are located in Germany. Final results will be presented in early December at the 26th International Timber Construction Forum in Innsbruck on 30 November 2022 and will also be published in a brochure by Informationsdienst Holz.
The nominees for the German Building Award 2022 have been determined. A total of 29 housing projects were selected in a two-stage process by an interdisciplinary jury chaired by Susanne Wartzeck, President of the Association of German Architects BDA. This year, 187 housing projects completed between 2018 and 2021 took part in the competition across Germany.
Isabella Marboe (ed.) Bauen für die Gemeinschaft in Wien Neue gemeinschaftliche Formen des Zusammenlebens Edition Detail 2021, 144 pages, de/eng, Euro 39,90
The housing projects presented in Vienna arose from the desire to develop living concepts that strengthen the sense of community and contribute to a society based on solidarity - building groups and participatory projects, neighbourhood houses, temporary or permanent social forms of living and working for marginalised groups such as the homeless and people entitled to asylum. Private flats can be downsized if there is more shared space. These housing and living models are alternatives to capitalist investor thinking. The users get involved, also in the project planning. Ulrike Schartner and Alexander Hagner from gaupenraup+/- explain the starting point and strategies of their work in an introductory interview. In two essays, Robert Temel and Isabella Marboe show the development of communal forms of building and living.
Statement by Klara Geywitz on the 2022 budget and the key figures of the financial planning until 2026 The draft budget for 2022 and the key figures of the financial planning up to 2026 provide for a total of 14.5 billion euros in programme funds for social housing. This will support the construction of 100,000 social housing units per year. That is more than three times the original financial planning, which had earmarked four billion euros by 2025. The 2022 budget will lay the foundation for planning with two billion euros.
After a significant decline in the previous year, greenhouse gas emissions in Germany are on the rise again. Thus, around 762 million tonnes of greenhouse gases were released in 2021 - a good 33 million tonnes or 4.5 percent more than in 2020. Overall, emissions in Germany have thus fallen by 38.7 percent since 1990. The increase in the last year is particularly noticeable in the energy sector: This shows an increase of 27 million tonnes CO2-equivalents, as increased demand for electricity, lower electricity generation from renewable energies and the higher gas price led to increased use of coal for electricity generation. Electricity generation from renewables fell by seven per cent, mainly due to poor wind conditions. In the transport and building sectors, emissions were above the annual ceilings set by the Federal Climate Protection Act. This is shown by the latest calculations of the Federal Environment Agency (UBA), which are based on the specifications of the Federal Climate Protection Act and the EU-Renewable Energy Directive (RED) were presented today.
Housing industry, architects and municipalities called upon to participate
Berlin - Affordable and high-quality residential construction is currently more important than ever. For more than three decades, outstanding residential construction projects have been honoured every two years with the German Builder-Owner Award. This year's edition of the competition has now been announced.
The aim of the award, which is sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Building, is to recognise the responsible efforts of developers to create affordable housing and neighbourhoods of "high quality at affordable costs".
The property developer WvM Immobilien + Projektentwicklung GmbH and the eco-energy supplier NATURSTROM AG found the joint company Green Estate. With the fusion of energy and real estate know-how, the partners are taking a new path to enable people to live sustainably.
The new National Progress Report on the Implementation of the New Urban Agenda shows the state of sustainability in urban development in German municipalities. The report was prepared by the German Institute of Urban Affairs on behalf of the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR).
"The raw material wood is precious. It is therefore important to use it responsibly and in a way that conserves resources," warns Peter Aicher, Chairman of Holzbau Deutschland. Even if wood is affected by environmental influences or the bark beetle, it does not represent an inferior raw material, but has almost identical properties to conventional construction timber. "If the so-called 'calamity wood' has the same structural quality in terms of load-bearing capacity as conventional sawn timber, it can be used without restrictions," explains Aicher. In addition, the wood retains its important function as a CO2 sink, regardless of external impairments.
"New large-scale construction projects and ecological innovations have ensured that Malmö is now a prime example of the direct transition from an industrial metropolis to a sustainable eco city. The secret recipe: the city not only relied on innovative technologies, but above all on the active participation of citizens in the transformation."
On 22.12.2020, the Senate passed the first legal ordinance on the Hamburg Climate Protection Act. This regulates the concrete implementation of the solar roof obligation and the integration of renewable energies when replacing heating systems. With these regulations, Hamburg is one of the pioneers in climate protection in the building sector nationwide.
A new study from Denmark takes a look at the costs of sustainable building construction and shows that more sustainable does not automatically mean more expensive. On the contrary. The study by Buus Consult on behalf of the DGNB system partner from Denmark, the Green Building Council Denmark, now provides clarity. In the study, it takes a close look at 37 DGNB-certified buildings.
Forestry Minister Peter Hauk MdL: "With our call for ideas, we want to further promote municipal timber construction in the state and further consolidate our nationwide position as the No. 1 timber construction state".
A total of around 6.5 million euros in funding from the Baden-Württemberg timber construction campaign is available for the call for ideas for municipal timber construction concepts. The online application deadline is 12 February 2020.
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.
Half of the city of Berlin belongs to multimillionaires. This is the conclusion of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation's current study entitled "Who owns the city? Analysis of ownership groups and their business practices on the Berlin real estate market".
The 52° Nord quarter in Berlin's southeast convinced this year's jury of experts and, with its sustainable and architecturally coherent overall concept, wins the German Housing 2020 Award for the best quarter development.
Glaciers are melting, sea levels are rising, heat waves and heavy rainfall are increasing: The consequences of climate change are visible and tangible worldwide, and the window of opportunity to act is shrinking. In order to significantly limit the global effects of climate change, the emission of greenhouse gases on earth must be drastically reduced. The agreement reached by the international community in Paris in 2015 sets the goal of limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius, but preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Now, the Wuppertal Institute presented a study with possible cornerstones that can help to achieve the 1.5 degree target by 2035. The study shows that a climate-neutral energy system by 2035 is very ambitious, but in principle feasible, provided that all possible strategies from today's perspective are bundled. This requires, above all, bringing forward and intensifying measures that are described in many studies as necessary to achieve greenhouse gas neutrality by 2050.
Conceptual procedures are increasingly establishing themselves as a further instrument of municipal land policy for locations with development potential. Here, the property is not allocated according to the highest price, but according to the concept that promises the most sustainable approaches to the further development of the neighbourhood. In this way, the procedures offer municipalities approaches to solving two current and urgent problems: the need for high-quality urban development and affordable housing.
Jury statement: "The WIR neighbourhood in Berlin is characterised not only by its high energy efficiency (KfW 40 standard) and the use of wood as a renewable raw material for the building construction, but also by the collaborative planning process, which led to different housing concepts and the integration of different social communities. Communal areas and shared facilities such as a residents' workshop, swimming pool, neighbourhood square and daycare centre enable a lively and diverse neighbourhood. This also includes a dementia residential community as well as organisations for youth work and refugee groups. The five apartment blocks were realised with a timber frame construction and the façade in timber panel construction. This resulted in flexible floor plans that offer good conversion options."
At their meeting in Weimar on 24 and 25 September, the construction ministers of the federal states adopted resolutions on social housing, the use of ecological building materials and the digitalisation of the building permit process, among other things.
The EU's plan to become involved in the area of public housing promotion as part of the new "InvestEU" fund was criticised. The federal government was therefore called upon to advocate a modification of the programme so that subsidies are only granted if the provisions of regional, national or federal funding regimes are observed, in particular if rent and occupancy restrictions are stipulated. The Chairman of the Conference of Building Ministers, Thuringia's Infrastructure Minister Benjamin-Immanuel Hoff, said: "Creating affordable housing in Germany remains an important task. The federal government must continue to provide at least the same level of funding. In order to make faster progress, we need more money in the system. The EU's commitment is therefore to be welcomed in principle. But we must ensure that the funds also reach social housing construction, and we agree that this can best be achieved through the established funding programmes of the federal states."
Following the interim results of the Housing Summit and the Building Land Commission, demands are being voiced by the scientific community: The still tight housing markets require the use of additional instruments by the federal and state governments. Otherwise, the turnaround towards affordable housing cannot be achieved.
Climate protection is important to over 80 percent of Germans - but this should not be reflected in higher rental costs. In order to increase the acceptance of energy-efficient renovations, Deutsche Wohnen has developed a model of how climate protection and social compatibility can come together. The "Concept for Socially Compatible Climate Protection in the Building Sector" aims to significantly increase the rate of refurbishment in existing buildings in order to achieve national climate protection targets. At the same time, an economic stimulus package worth billions is being initiated.
On 18 June 2020, the German Bundestag passed the Building Energy Act (GEG) in its third reading. With this law, the federal government is combining the existing requirements of the Energy Saving Ordinance (EnEV), the Renewable Energies Heat Act (EEWärmeG) and the Energy Saving Act (EnEG). For the information programme Zukunft Altbau (Future of Old Buildings), which is supported by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of the Environment, the specifications of the new law are not ambitious enough. To bring climate-friendly building and renovation nationwide on the way is not possible in the future. "The legislator has missed it to introduce more demanding standards," says Frank Hettler of Zukunft Altbau. "For a sustainable building stock in Germany, however, these are urgently needed to achieve the climate targets." The GEG will now be forwarded to the Bundesrat, which, however, does not require approval, and is expected to come into force by the end of the year.
The parliament of Bremen wants to oblige the use of solar energy on all new and existing buildings in Bremen and Bremerhaven. Whenever the roof surface is completely renewed, they are to be equipped with a solar system in the future. This is photovoltaics and, if necessary, also solar thermal energy. The Senate is currently examining the latter.
Seit Ende Februar 2020 gilt der Mietendeckel in Berlin und der zeigt mittlerweile Wirkung: um 8% sind die Angebotsmieten für gedeckelte Bestandswohnungen im Schnitt gesunken, dagegen sind die Preise für nicht unter die Vorgaben fallenden Neubauten um 17% angestiegen.
Council of Ministers approves bill to amend state building code
In its meeting on 26 May 2020, the Rhineland-Palatinate Council of Ministers approved in principle a draft bill to amend, among other things, the Rhineland-Palatinate Building Code. The amendment of the state building code is intended to implement changes to the so-called model building code that have already been adopted or are in preparation.
The Federal Chamber of Architects (BAK) and the Federal Foundation of Baukultur presented their proposal for a "Baukultur Innovation Programme" to politicians in Berlin today on behalf of the planning and construction industry.
Anne Katrin Bohle, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community, accepted the four-point plan. In it, the authors suggest measures to overcome the coronavirus crisis that will have a lasting economic and social impact.
The federal government can give a short-term boost to public housing construction in Germany and thus help to ease the acute housing shortage in many large cities. The key to this is three federally owned companies that provide flexible support to the federal states and local authorities in the development of construction projects and the construction of new housing: Firstly, a consultancy company that provides planning capacities to cities and municipalities. Secondly, a land fund that provides financial and conceptual support to local authorities nationwide in acquiring building land and financing infrastructure. Thirdly, an investment company that strengthens the equity of municipal housing construction companies through financial participation. Prof Dr Sebastian Dullien, Scientific Director of the Institute for Macroeconomics and Economic Research (IMK) at the Hans Böckler Foundation, and Prof Dr Tom Krebs from the University of Mannheim show this in a new concept for a federal "Future Housing" initiative.
With retroactive effect from 1 January 2020, the timber construction subsidy in Hamburg has now officially been increased to EUR 0.80 per kilogramme of timber product as part of the various subsidised housing construction programmes. As a prerequisite for the subsidy,...
Since 1 January 2020, all new buildings and general renovations of the BIG Group have been subject to the Group-wide mandatory minimum sustainable standard. The BIG minimum standard goes beyond the legal requirements and ensures that all projects of BIG and its subsidiary ARE achieve the klimaaktiv SILVER standard in any case. The sustainable minimum standard of the Bundesimmobiliengesellschaft (BIG) is a catalogue of criteria that must already be taken into account in the planning process for buildings. This makes the implementation of 43 measures of the BIG Holistic Building Programme (HBP)* and the achievement of at least 750 klimaaktiv points mandatory for all new construction and general refurbishment projects for which a planning invention procedure will be carried out from 2020. By implementing the minimum standard, CO2 emission values are significantly reduced, climate-damaging building materials are avoided and the phase-out of fossil fuels is accelerated.
Climate protection has long been one of the most urgent topics for the housing industry. In order to achieve a climate-neutral building stock by 2050, the 24 founding companies of the Wohnen.2050 initiative met in Berlin on 28 January 2020 to found the association. The nationwide association was initiated by the Nassauische Heimstätte | Wohnstadt group of companies.
"Don't just talk about climate change, act" - under this motto, the Nassauische Heimstätte | Wohnstadt Group invited founding partners from all over Germany to found the Initiative Wohnen.2050 (IW2050) association. The overarching objective is a climate policy alliance, which, in addition to strategic cooperation and a technical and content-related comparison, primarily focuses on economic and financial concerns to achieve the targets.
