3:21 min.
The master thesis "Living without a car - niche concept or future model for sustainable urban development? Planning and implementation of car-free and car-reduced urban development projects in comparison" by Andreas Blechschmidt (2016; 104 pages) is now available online.
Link: publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/opus4/frontdoor/index/index/docId/38429
Keywords:
Car Free, Bike-/Velo-City, DE-News, New books and studies, Transition Town
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 of companies 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, focuses primarily on economic and financial concerns to achieve the targets.
The event was opened by Axel Gedaschko, President of the Federal Association of German Housing and Real Estate Companies (GdW). "For the housing industry, climate protection is one of the most urgent topics - and all those involved have been making a continuous contribution for a long time. To achieve the two-degree target and a climate-neutral building stock by 2050, the stakes need to be raised significantly once again. The situation requires not only commitment, but transformation," Gedaschko explained.
The Wohnen.2050 initiative combines concentrated know-how and relies on the open-source approach. Solutions and tools for the resource-saving development of company-specific paths to climate neutrality are jointly developed and exchanged. In this way, even smaller companies are given the opportunity to position themselves in an economically and factually appropriate way. "We are facing what is probably the greatest challenge of our time. That's why it was clear to us that we needed an industry initiative to meet this challenge together and in partnership," says Dr. Thomas Hain, Managing Director of the Nassauische Heimstätte | Wohnstadt Group and member of the IW2050 Board of Directors, about the climate protection commitment.
The approach is convincing: on the day of its foundation, the initiative already represents around 1,050,000 housing units and six of the ten largest German housing companies within the GdW. "The participation and interest were overwhelming. We are proud to set out today with a staggering 24 founding companies on the path to a climate-neutral future," said Felix Lüter, Head of the Sustainability Competence Centre of the Nassauische Heimstätte | Wohnstadt Group. After the official founding of the association, the participants discussed possible financing and climate strategies in working groups. In the coming weeks, there will be further meetings to develop strategies and measures to achieve the goals set.
Supported by
Link
Manifesto of the Housing 2050 Initiative
www.iw2050.de
Source: PM from 28.01.2020 Nassauische Heimstätte
Keywords:
Stock, DE-News, Renewable, Climate protection, Settlements, Housing, Housing policy, Thermal insulation
For the third time, the BMEL honoured innovative and pioneering construction projects that made significant use of wood and other renewable raw materials. A ten-member jury selected eight outstanding construction projects and a further 12 special competition entries from a total of 127 submissions. The eight winners in the new construction and refurbishment categories were each awarded prize money of €6,000 by the BMEL. The builders of the 12 special buildings received an unendowed honourable mention.
The jury's assessment focused on the exemplary function and character of the realised building projects. The winners demonstrate holistic concepts with excellent use of renewable raw materials in construction, insulation and finishing.
All winning projects are listed in the Winner brochure of the BMEL.
Keywords:
DE-News, Wood construction, Contests & Prizes
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
Inflation and supply bottlenecks have stopped the construction boom in Germany: In 2022, real construction volume declined for the first time in many years, by around two percent. Similar declines are expected this year as well. Only in 2024 will the construction volume, adjusted for inflation, be back in the black. Residential construction in particular is disproportionately affected by the decline. This is the result of the current calculations of the construction volume, which are prepared annually by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin).
© DIW Berlin
Although the construction volume rose by a record-breaking 13.6 percent last year in nominal terms, i.e. in current prices, the increase is solely due to the rapid rise in construction prices. Although this gave the construction companies good sales, adjusted for inflation, construction activity fell by two percent. The urgently needed new housing construction was and is particularly affected, which was even down 4.5 per cent in real terms. "For many years, residential construction has always grown faster than the overall construction volume. Now there are signs of a trend reversal, especially in new construction, which policymakers must take into account," says study author Laura Pagenhardt.
The federal government's goal of building 400,000 new flats per year is thus becoming a distant prospect. Already in the last two years, no more than 300,000 flats have been built. This year and next, the study authors expect that worsening financing conditions and political uncertainty will make investors even more cautious. However, construction prices are likely to rise less sharply due to the easing of supply chains and declining capacity utilisation. "Adjusted for inflation, the construction volume will probably still be negative this year and will only be positive again from 2024, but even then residential construction, especially new construction, is likely to lag behind the overall development," expects study author Martin Gornig.
"What is needed is a master plan that not only supports demand with long-term funding programmes, but also counteracts the bottlenecks in supply" Martin Gornig
He therefore calls for a change in strategy. Although the federal government has already decided on measures to promote housing construction through taxation, it must focus more on redensification of existing buildings in order to create affordable new housing, especially in urban areas. At the same time, there is a danger that a large part of the subsidies, especially for energy-efficient building renovation, will evaporate into rising prices if the supply side is not strengthened in addition to the demand side. According to Gornig, what is needed is a master plan that not only supports demand with long-term subsidy programmes. In addition, it must increasingly promote the expansion of planning, production and installation capacities in order to counteract bottlenecks in supply and thus price increases.
Keywords:
DE-News, Quarters, Settlements, Housing, Housing policy
