Funding announcement "Solar Building & Energy Efficient City
Published
The BMWi and the BMBF have responded to the Berlin Energy Days 2016 (11-13 April) presented the new interdepartmental funding announcement "Solar Building & Energy Efficient City". Its aim is to network the actors in this field and create synergies. To this end, the Federal Government is providing 150 million euros within the 6th Energy Research Programme. The focus is on cross-technology research projects and interdisciplinary cooperation. The aim is to build and modernise energy-efficient buildings and urban districts together with energy-optimised infrastructure. It therefore also exclusively supports cooperation projects. Industry, small and medium-sized enterprises as well as universities and research institutions can submit their proposals for research and demonstration projects. The funding initiative includes application-oriented research, development and demonstration of energy-optimised buildings (Module I "Solar Building"). On the other hand, the focus is on so-called lighthouse projects in the neighbourhood (Module II "Energy-efficient city"). The concepts developed in this way should be easily transferable to other projects and implement model supply strategies based on renewable energies.
At the same time, the BMWi is launching another funding initiative: "EnEff.Gebäude.2050". Here, application-oriented model projects on the topic of solar building are particularly in demand, which aim to transfer innovative technologies and concepts for broad application. They are being supported with a total of 35 million euros. The aim is to motivate the many players in construction, planning and architecture to take action and overcome obstacles to the realisation of particularly energy-efficient buildings.
No stopping, no weaving through, no suddenly opened car doors: With the expansion of motorways for bicycles only, Norway's government wants to create an incentive to take the bike more often.
Norway's goal: less harmful emissions, and soon. Pollutant emissions from traffic and transport are to be reduced by as much as 50 per cent. For car traffic in the city, this means: It should not grow any further without restricting the mobility of citizens. In this context, the Norwegian government speaks of a "zero-growth" target.
Link to the article from (unfortunately no longer online; as of 10/2020):
Foresters, forest owners and nature lovers are very concerned about what has been happening in our forests since the beginning of 2018: Initially snow breakage and winter storms and the subsequent drought and bark beetle infestation have led to dramatic tree dieback. And there is no end in sight! The forest has been under extreme climate stress for almost two years and foresters are in permanent disaster mode. Well over 100 million old trees have already died. In addition, several million young plants have dried up. These have been planted in recent years to make the forest even more diverse and stable. But natural regeneration is also affected. The Association of German Foresters is calling for all efforts at federal and state level to be stepped up and pooled immediately. The BDF proposes the "Carlowitz Plan" as a strategic package of measures. Its measures are intended to preserve the forest in all its functions and as an important system-relevant basis of life and heritage for us humans!
In addition to the spruce tree species, which has so far mainly suffered from the drought, the beech, the most important deciduous tree species and "mother of the forest" in our forests, is now apparently also showing clear and region-wide signs of dying out. "This is particularly dramatic! In recent decades, we foresters have mainly relied on copper beech, our natural main tree species, for the necessary forest reorganisation towards climate-stable forests," says BDF Federal Chairman Ulrich Dohle. In addition, two important tree species have already been virtually lost in many forests due to fungal diseases of elm and ash. A similar trend is emerging for the maple tree species. With corresponding negative consequences for biodiversity and forestry options for the future.
"While we foresters have been busy for almost two years repairing the damage that has occurred so far - and there is no end in sight - the important future task of developing the forests in a climate-stable way is often falling by the wayside. There are simply too few of us to keep on top of the situation," says Dohle, drawing attention to the massive reduction in forestry staff over the past twenty years, during which around 50% of forestry employees have been cut.
A few days ago, Federal Forest Minister Julia Klöckner took up the results of the ETH Zurich study and announced a massive reforestation programme. The BDF is calling for this announcement to be translated into concrete government action in the near future. To this end, the necessary financial and human resources must be made available.
"The common good and services of general interest, especially in public forests, must once again take centre stage," says Dohle, specifying the demands. "The strong commercial orientation of the past two decades was a political mistake that must now be corrected as quickly as possible!" Bavaria has already initiated this paradigm shift for its state forest. Other federal states must now follow suit!
Forests are not only victims of climate change, they are also urgently needed to mitigate climate change. As a living reservoir of solar energy, it is a significant CO2 sink.
The handling of the forest dieback in the 1980s showed that responsible and targeted environmental policy can help to avert predicted damage. Although the causes and effects in the current climate debate are much more complex, we can certainly learn from the past.
The Association of German Foresters is therefore calling for the convening of a National Forest Summit at this time of climate emergency for the forest! The BDF is currently developing the "Carlowitz Plan" as the basis for a social discourse on the forest by politicians, experts and groups interested in the forest. The plan bears the name of Hans Carl von Carlowitz (1713), who first coined the term sustainability in forestry. Since then, sustainability has been the defining characteristic of all forestry activities!
Ulrich Dohle summarises it as follows: "These are no longer individual unusual weather events. This is climate change. I have therefore declared a climate emergency for forests today. Every effort must be made to preserve our forests as the formative green third of our country and a systemically relevant basis of life! This is the only way we can fulfil the principle of sustainability!"
Source: Press release from the BDF - Association of German Foresters dated 15 July 2019
Great joy in Aachen: One of the central urban development projects is awarded special federal funding.
Mayor Sibylle Keupen: "This is a super message for our city!"
The Büchel old town quarter is one of 24 projects nationwide that are now being supported with a total of 75 million euros.
98 cities and municipalities had applied.
A most welcome piece of news reached the city of Aachen this morning (17 March 2021): Federal Minister Horst Seehofer has announced this year's selection of the "National Projects of Urban Development" and announced that the development of the Büchel old town quarter will receive up to 5.5 million euros in funding. Aachen is thus one of four municipalities in NRW to have been awarded the contract. With the amount of funding, the city is in third place nationwide.
Great news from Berlin: The federal government wants to support the development of the Büchel in Aachen's city centre with up to 5.5 million euros. Photo: City of Aachen / Andreas Herrmann
OBin Keupen: "We feel the spirit of optimism!"
"This is a great message for our city," says Mayor Sibylle Keupen in her first reaction. "We have long felt the spirit of optimism around the Büchel in Aachen. The demolition of the multi-storey car park is imminent, the planning workshop was a great success, many groundbreaking political decisions have been made, and more are on the horizon. Above all, many city makers are on board and want to be involved in a very concrete way. They want to participate, to shape, to plan, to build. The fact that this high level of commitment of all those involved here on site has now also triggered such a response at federal level encourages us to continue on the path of 'making a city at Büchel'."
City Planning Director Burgdorff: "Aachen can play in the Bundesliga!"
The municipal councillor for urban development, construction and mobility, Frauke Burgdorff, adds: "I am extremely pleased that Aachen, if it sticks together, can also play in the Bundesliga! Aachen's politicians have united behind the project and have given their backing to the state and federal governments. Thank you for that! But I would also like to express my sincere thanks to those who have done the substantive work here on site, to the municipal project manager Nils Jansen as well as to Christoph Guth and Antje Eickhoff, who have done an excellent job on the part of the municipal development company SEGA."
Making town at the Büchel
A special piece of the city at eye level is to be created at Büchel. It is being developed together with many committed people and institutions. With this approach, it has also precisely met the requirements of the call for proposals. The Federal Ministry's project overview states: "Knowledge, living, meadow" are the keywords under which a mixed-use, urban quarter is to be created in the heart of Aachen's old town in a cooperative and exemplary development process that is wanted and supported by the urban community.
The basis for the development is the exploratory procedure "Stadt machen am Büchel" (Making a city at Büchel), which the city of Aachen launched in spring 2020. City Planning Director Burgdorff sums up: "A multi-storey car park has been blocking the development of the old town for decades. We are tearing it down and building a new urban quarter. The urban community itself is developing the programme, urban design and investment strategy. This project offers a unique opportunity to find answers to the question of how a major wound in the old city can be healed with contemporary building-cultural responses."
The next steps
Following today's basic commitment by the federal government to fund the project, the detailed applications for funding will be drawn up in phase 2. In this ongoing process - and on the basis of upcoming landmark decisions of Aachen's municipal politics - it will now be worked out how the Büchel of the future will take shape with the funding millions.
National urban development projects
National urban development projects are nationally and internationally visible, larger-scale urban development projects with clear impulses for the respective municipality or city, the region and urban development policy in Germany as a whole. They are characterised by a special quality standard with regard to the urban development approach, the building culture aspects and the participation processes, contribute to the realisation of the federal government's building policy objectives and have innovation potential. National urban development projects are projects that generally solve tasks and problems of considerable financial dimension. The focus is on the major challenges currently facing cities and municipalities in Germany (e.g. preservation of existing buildings, conversions, sustainable neighbourhood development).
A total of 24 projects for forward-looking urban development are being funded by the federal government with a total of around 75 million euros. 98 cities and municipalities from all over Germany applied for the funding.
More info Interesting facts about the Büchel can be found on the Internet at www.buechel-aachen.de
From Aprill 2021 the Demolition work on the Büchel multi-storey car park. All the info on this has been presented as part of an online event. The stream is still available on the YouTube channel of the city of Aachen: https://youtu.be/KQqFq6v_edA.
Within the framework of a cooperative planning workshop, three teams of experts developed three exciting designs for the Büchel, each with a focus on the major themes of "knowledge, living, meadow". The final presentation of the planning workshop, which took place digitally in January 2021, is also still available as a stream: https://youtu.be/AWSb5Gx3gKA.
The Federal Chamber of Architects (BAK) and the Federal Foundation for Building Culture, on behalf of the planning and building industry, today presented their proposal for an "Innovation Programme for Building Culture" to politicians in Berlin.
Anne Katrin Bohle, State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of the Interior, for Construction and Home Affairs, accepted the four-point plan. In it, the authors suggest measures to overcome the Corona crisis that will have a sustainable economic and social impact.
"The structured approach of politics to the Covid19 pandemic, has also shown the opportunities and necessities of infrastructural reconstruction," says Reiner Nagel, Chairman of the Board of the Bundesstiftung Baukultur. "The planning and construction industry can help to create sustainable added value for society in the economic recovery that now lies ahead, for example in the areas of mobility, digitalisation, housing or climate protection. The proposed measures offer the opportunity to create high benefits for sustainable services of general interest and employment in Germany and Europe."
"When developing an innovation programme, measures must be linked to concerns that were also being worked on at full speed before the crisis," emphasises BAK President Barbara Ettinger-Brinckmann. "Every investment offers opportunities for a better quality of life, and the question of added value for our society must be at the centre of our actions. A requirement for quality and sustainability should be attached to every subsidy. In doing so, the public builder must act as a role model and invest specifically in the value of our built environment, both in urban and rural areas."
The "Innovation Programme Building Culture" comprises four focal points:
1. additional resources for innovation and future projects
The Corona Crisis must be an innovation driver for current social challenges. This includes the transformation of cities, for example with a view to climate change, changed working models and new mobility and consumption habits. Consistent support for innovative approaches can move Germany forward in the competition between locations and put both public and private developers back in a position to set an example with their buildings.
2. implement climate protection in buildings
The construction sector can make the greatest contribution to climate protection of all economic sectors: it is one of the most resource-intensive industries, but at the same time offers great potential for savings. What is needed is a programme for sustainable business, climate protection and ongoing ecological change. Boosting existing KfW programmes to promote energy-efficient refurbishment and making holistic approaches to modernisation easier to implement by law can trigger construction activities and at the same time realise climate policy goals.
3. realise existing plans now
Projects that have been planned and prepared should now be implemented quickly. The time limit of the necessary economic stimulus funds leads to corresponding pressure to act. The construction industry can continue to take on tasks from a given employment situation and avoid job losses. Public-sector investments that promote long-term structural change and trigger private investment are particularly sensible at present.
4. create a solid basis for effective economic stimulus measures
Economic policy with the above-mentioned priorities can only be implemented if all actors are put in a position to actually implement the major challenges quickly and appropriately. The accelerated award and approval of existing and prepared projects would in itself have a positive economic effect. The temporary or permanent streamlining of structures and processes should be ensured.
You can find the detailed four-point plan here as a Download
The innovation programme is supported by:
AHO - Committee of the Associations and Chambers of Engineers and Architects for the Fee Regulations e.V.
BDA - Association of German Architects
BDIA - Association of German Interior Architects e.V.
BDLA - Association of German Landscape Architects e.V.
BDVI- Association of publicly appointed surveyors e.V.
BFB - Bundesverband der Freien Berufe e.V. (Federal Association of Liberal Professions)
DAI - Association of German Architects' and Engineers' Associations
DASL -Deutsche Akademie für Städtebau und Landesplanung e.V. (German Academy for Urban and Regional Planning)
Die Stadtentwickler Bundesverband e.V.
DV - German Association for Housing, Urban and Regional Planning
HDB - German Construction Industry Federation
IfR - Information Circle for Spatial Planning e.V.
VBI - Association of Consulting Engineers e.V.
VDV - Association of German Surveying Engineers e.V.
VDMA Building Technology
VfA - Association of Freelance Architects of Germany e.V.
VPB - Verband Privater Bauherren e.V. (Association of Private Building Owners)
ZBI - Central Federation of Engineering Associations e.V.
ZDB - Zentralverband des Deutschen Baugewerbes e.V. (Central Association of the German Construction Industry)
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