Since 1999, the ABG Frankfurt Holding Around 3,000 flats have been built to the passive house standard for residents from 180 nations, ranging from subsidised flats to condominiums. Thanks to the low ancillary costs and the high level of living comfort, there are hardly any vacancies. "We build more cheaply than the competition, who either don't want Passive House or can't," said Frank Junker in his presentation at the 22nd International Passive House Conference, which took place in Munich on 9 and 10 March 2018 with over 1000 participants.
Like Mr Junker, numerous other speakers at the Passive House Conference showed in their presentations that energy-efficient building and renovation is economical and affordable.
Passive house in social housing
The founder of the Passive House Institute, Prof. Wolfgang Feist, now teaches energy-efficient building at the University of Innsbruck. The university was a co-organiser of the Passive House Conference in Munich. Feist illuminated the aspect of energy efficiency with a view to social housing. Particularly in the components of windows and ventilation, he said, it has become possible in recent years to choose much more efficient solutions without significantly higher costs. "If you do not realise a residential building as a passive house today, your tenants will pay more than if you provide them with flats in proper condition," Feist said.
CO2-Emissions should be reduced by 65 percent over the next ten years compared to 1990 in order to achieve climate neutrality - Energy system must be converted to 100 percent renewable energies by 2040 - Investment of 3,000 billion euros required to meet European Green Deal and Paris climate targets - German EU Council Presidency can ensure that Corona aid packages link economic stimulus with climate protection
The European Green Deal sets the bar very high: Europe is to become climate neutral by 2050. However, these targets can only be achieved if CO2-emissions by 2030 not only by 40 percent compared to 1990, but by 65 percent. To achieve this, energy production would have to be completely converted to renewable energies by 2040. The necessary investments are high, but they will pay off. These are the most important results of a new study by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin). On the occasion of the German EU Council Presidency, the economists from DIW Berlin and the Technical University of Berlin involved in the study have calculated under which circumstances the goals of the European Green Deal could be achieved and what costs this would entail. "So far, the EU Commission has assumed a CO2-reduction target of 40 percent. But this will not make Europe climate-neutral by 2050, as our calculations show. The targets must be much more ambitious," says study author Claudia Kemfert.
Graphic: DIW Berlin
The authors have therefore compared a baseline scenario of 40 percent with a climate protection scenario that assumes a CO2-reduction of 65 percent by 2030 compared to 1990, as demanded by some groups in the EU Parliament. In fact, the calculations show that under these circumstances, the climate neutrality targeted in the Green Deal could be achieved. "However, this is only possible if we switch our energy system to 100 percent renewables - and do so already by 2040," says study author Karlo Hainsch. Even with a complete switch to renewables, the energy supply would remain secure, as the study's hourly calculations show - even for countries that still rely heavily on fossil or nuclear energy, such as Poland and France.
"The German EU presidency could kill two birds with one stone: economic recovery and climate protection." Christian von Hirschhausen
Such a scenario would save around 60 billion tonnes of CO2. "However, a switch to 100 percent renewable energy cannot be had for free. Extensive investments will have to be made," says study author Leonard Göke. According to the calculations, the investment required for renewable energies amounts to around 3000 billion euros. This is an enormous amount, but it is offset by savings of almost 2000 billion euros alone, which would no longer have to be spent on importing fossil fuels. Since both the EU and most national governments in Europe have put together extensive aid packages because of the Corona crisis, these could form a good basis for supporting the necessary investments.
"The German EU Presidency could kill two birds with one stone: economic recovery and climate protection," says study author Christian von Hirschhausen. "To do so, it must ensure that the extensive stimulus packages under the European Green Deal are used for investments in renewable energies and energy efficiency." In addition, there is still the Just Transition Fund, which the EU has set up to provide financial support for structural change in the regions of Europe that are affected very differently by the measures. "Particular care must be taken to ensure that the funds are channelled into sustainable climate-neutral projects and not used for the de facto stabilisation of fossil fuel development paths," warns study author Pao-Yu Oei. The current economic crisis, which is setting new parameters worldwide and across sectors, could now be used to decisively tackle the necessary measures towards climate neutrality.
Renewable energies accounted for 16.7 per cent of total energy consumption in the EU in 2015. This is almost twice as much as a decade earlier. Compared to the previous year, the share rose by 0.6 percentage points, as the statistics authority Eurostat announced on Tuesday. In 2004, when data was first available, the figure was just 8.5 per cent. In 2015, Sweden was ahead with 53.9 per cent, while renewable energies had the smallest share in Luxembourg and Malta with 5 per cent each. The aim is to achieve a total of 20 per cent across the EU by 2020. (ap)
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.
Here are two of seven focus areas:
Greenhouse gas emissions; target: reduce greenhouse gases by at least 25 per cent by 2020 and by 80 per cent by 2050Environmental strategyBiodiversity strategy
Size of settlement and transport areas; target: limit land use for settlement and transport to an average of five hectares per day by 2020
In future, IT.NRW will present an up-to-date indicator report on sustainability in NRW every two years. The sustainability strategy will be updated every four years.
Thuringia is making six million euros available this year for investments in municipal climate protection. The funding comes from the state's "Climate Invest" program, which has already kick-started more than 15.5 million euros in investments in municipalities since the start of 2018, the Environment Ministry announced in Erfurt on Thursday. 312 funding applications have been approved.
At the same time, Siegesmund encouraged Thuringian municipalities to take part in the nationwide "Climate Active Municipality 2020" competition. The Federal Ministry for the Environment has started a new round in the competition of ideas for climate protection. Cities, counties and municipalities are called upon to submit exemplary ideas. Prize money totalling 25,000 euros awaits the winners.
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