In the Federal Republic of Germany, more than 720 million square metres of building surface have been covered with polystyrene since the Second World War.
Now, according to manager magazins, a series of major fires in industry has startled the insurance industry. Accordingly, the insurance industry now openly advises against not only Styrofoam as an insulating material for commercial enterprises, but also against the raw material polystyrene and the related EPS rigid foam.
"The critical fire behaviour of EPS rigid foam is well known," a spokeswoman for the insurance association GDV told manager-magazin.de.
You can find the whole article from 3.1.2017 in the manager magazin
Immovielien versus state and market failure in land policy
On 18 June 2018, almost 50 members from all over Germany founded the association Netzwerk Immovielien e. V. at the ufaFabrik in Berlin-Tempelhof. Since 2017, actors from civil society, the public sector, business, welfare, and academia have been working closely together in the network to promote a stronger focus on the common good in real estate and neighborhood development. The common good-oriented view of urban development issues and the heterogeneous composition of the members are the special features of the Immovielien network: the diversity of attitudes, discourses and formats makes it credible within the professional world, effective in the cause and attractive for new and old members.
"The interest in exchanging ideas and working together was enormous right from the start," says Jörn Luft from the Bonn-based Montag Stiftung Urbane Räume, which currently holds the coordinating position for the network. "Immovielien-Macher*innen and their partners want to become even more involved in the public discussion in the future through their educational and networking work".
Immovielien - real estate by many for many - are real estate and neighbourhood projects that create lasting added value for society and the neighbourhood. They are created in a participatory and interdisciplinary development process, mostly driven by civil society. They are to be strengthened by the network's activities, which range from events and publications to information and networking formats to concrete cooperations for real estate and urban development oriented towards the common good.
In the new association, the Immovielien network can now continue to grow structurally and financially independently. "We are extremely pleased that we were able to launch the association with almost 50 founding members. The same number of members is already in the starting blocks and wants to fill out the membership application in the next few days," says Rolf Novy-Huy from the Hattingen-based trias Foundation, who will take over the honorary board of directors together with Benedikt Altrogge from GLS Gemeinschaftsbank eG in Bochum.
"Now we want to co-ordinate as fast as possible over our work emphasis and take up then with a new co-ordination place in Berlin speed , announce Benedikt Altrogge. Proposals for possible focal points of work were already collected at the founding event. In addition to public and networking events, educational and public relations work, as well as cooperation between and for community-oriented actors in urban development, should continue to play an important role.
The network also wants to continue to advocate for the fundamental improvement of framework conditions for real estate and urban development oriented towards the common good. In view of the tense situation in many municipalities, savings dictates in the wrong place and a lack of will to reform would be tantamount to a failure on the part of the state, said both Florian Schmidt, a city councillor for construction in Berlin Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, and Caren Lay, deputy parliamentary group leader and spokeswoman on construction policy for The Left Party in the German Bundestag.
The network had already started a critical monitoring of the federal political discussions before its foundation. The network wants to continue this in the future. It remains important not to play each other off, noted founding member Thomas Bestgen from UTB Projektmanagement GmbH in Berlin, referring to the successful Immovielien projects in Switzerland. Much more decisive than the arguments about the most suitable legal form is the visible result of the real estate development for the people in the neighbourhood. Jörn Luft, who will be managing the transition of the existing network into the association until the summer, announced that the Immovieliensammlung, which will be available on the network's website, is one example of what this can look like.
Board of Directors: Rolf Novy-Huy (Hattingen) and Benedikt Altrogge (Bochum)
Coordination Office Immovielien Network
At the brewhouse 2
12053 Berlin
Mayor Michael Grötsch; State Environment Minister Franz Untersteller; Karl-heinz Frings, Managing Director of GBG; Martin in der Beek, Technical Managing Director of rnv; Gregor Kiefer, Head of Construction Management, GBG. Photo: City of Mannheim / Markus Proßwitz
The city is to become cleaner and quieter: Under the heading "blue_village_Franklin", important future topics such as new mobility, energy efficiency, climate-optimised living or smart grids are being tested with the conversion of the former military area FRANKLIN. The SQUARE project, two model houses renovated according to the latest energy standards, and the electromobile bus lines 66 and 67 are part of this master plan. Franz Untersteller MdL, State Minister for the Environment, Climate and Energy Management, visited the two model projects in the new urban quarter on Tuesday, 4 August, as part of his summer tour "Environmental Future".
"With SQUARE, the city of Mannheim and the Mannheim housing association are showing a way to design climate- and energy-optimised living in existing buildings," said the Environment Minister during his visit. "It is impressive to see what has been implemented here in terms of building refurbishment, electromobility and smart grids. And it will be exciting to evaluate the results of this model project and make them usable for other projects."
Lord Mayor Dr. Peter Kurz explains: "With Franklin, an ecological urban quarter for over 9,000 people is being created that will set new standards. Our goal is to consume as little energy as possible throughout the district, to generate as much renewable energy locally as possible and to cause as few emissions as possible. In this context, the SQUARE model project presents two interesting approaches to solutions."
Back in 2014, the model project for energy-efficient building refurbishment SQUARE (smart quarter and urban area reducing emissions) was awarded a prize in the "Klimaschutz mit System" (Climate Protection with a System) competition run by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of the Environment. The SQUARE project application was prepared by the City of Mannheim's Economic Development Department in cooperation with the Climate Protection Control Centre. Thanks to the award, SQUARE was able to be included in the ERDF funding programme at the time and supported with three million euros. "SQUARE stands for one of the most ambitious projects in the field of GreenTech and climate protection in the city of Mannheim in the past decade. It is one of the pioneering projects developed from the "Blue City Mannheim" strategy concept of the Economic Development Department. The green tech innovation strategy from 2013 is still highly topical and sets the course for climate-neutral mobility and smart grids," emphasizes Mayor Michael Grötsch.
GBG - Mannheimer Wohnungsbaugesellschaft finally successfully implemented the model project on FRANKLIN. The first tenants moved in at the end of 2019. The two almost identical buildings were renovated according to different standards, one building according to the EnEV standard (SQUARE now), the second building with passive house elements according to an EnerPhIT standard (SQUARE next). Technologies such as smart grids, seasonal heat storage using ice storage and intelligent mobility concepts are being tested. The total of 48 rental apartments are spread across 3- to 5-room apartments between 84 and 109 sqm. "We are very excited about the insights we will gain through SQUARE. According to the calculations and simulations, we can achieve a CO2 saving of more than 50 percent in the comparison of the two buildings. In order to be able to save even more CO2, we are relying on the generation of regenerative energies. The ENEV building therefore received a photovoltaic system, the EnerPhIT building a solar thermal system," explains Karl-Heinz Frings, Managing Director of GBG.
"This is where the city of the future with the energy system of the future is being created," explains Bernhard Schumacher, head of the Smart Cities business unit at Mannheim-based energy company MVV. To this end, MVV is using smart technologies and the new possibilities of digitalisation on Franklin and is linking the various sectors intelligently and efficiently with each other - "not only to bring electricity, water, heat and mobility to the district, but also to make the new district the beacon of a necessary energy turnaround at the same time". MVV is also demonstrating what is already possible today in terms of electromobility on Franklin. In addition to environmentally friendly car-sharing solutions, such as FRANKLIN mobil, publicly accessible charging points are being set up, which will be networked with the energy management system and made more flexible. At the same time, the heating sector also plays an indispensable role. MVV has therefore built an innovative low-temperature heating grid here, which also enables the efficient integration of renewable energies.
Another item on the agenda of the visit is the three electric buses of the type E-Citaro, which have been in operation in Franklin on line 67 since April 2019. One of the buses was also funded under SQUARE. The environmentally friendly buses run every 20 minutes between the conversion areas on Franklin and the Käfertal Bahnhof stop. This will give people who already live, work or go to school in Franklin a direct connection to the rnv public transport network. "We are delighted to have EvoBus as a strong partner for this forward-looking project right on the spot," says Martin in der Beek, Technical Managing Director of rnv. "Over the past year, we have gained a lot of valuable knowledge in the operation of conventional electric buses and at the same time proved that the technology can stand up to the rigours of everyday public transport." In the future, however, other forms of propulsion will also be examined, he added. "We are currently looking intensively at the use of hydrogen buses in public transport and will soon be testing this technology at the rnv," reveals in der Beek. "Traveling by public transport is already more environmentally friendly per se than traveling by car, but we want to do even more for climate protection and therefore also convert our vehicle fleet to emission-free drives as far as possible."
Climate protection targets can only be achieved by investing in green technologies of the future and sustainable investment strategies / Energy Agency to support municipalities with divestment strategies in future.
"To be climate neutral by 2050, we not only need to make additional investments in green and innovative technologies of the future. Above all, we also need a shift from existing investments in 'brown' raw materials such as coal, oil and gas to 'green' climate-friendly technologies. The phase-out of fossil fuels must be global and rapid, in line with the goals of the World Climate Conference. Only in this way can we realistically achieve the climate protection goals. Churches, municipalities and also companies are setting new standards here and demonstrating the feasibility of the changeover in both ecological and economic terms," said Environment Minister Ulrike Höfken today at the event "Divestment and Sustainable Finance", which took place during the Climate Protection Weeks in Rhineland-Palatinate.
Höfken discussed new sustainable financing approaches together with Saori Dubourg, member of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE and member of the Council for Sustainable Development, Oberkirchenrat Heinz Thomas Striegler, Head of Church Administration of the Protestant Church in Hesse and Nassau and Chairman of the Working Group of Church Investors of the Protestant Church in Germany, as well as Christoph Bals, Political Director at Germanwatch e.V. and member of the Sustainable Finance Advisory Council of the German Federal Government.
According to the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, the financial sector in particular has one of the greatest levers of influence in the short term to encourage other sectors of the economy to do more to protect the climate. The central tool here is divestment, a withdrawal of capital from markets and products that violate sustainability criteria, such as fossil-intensive industries, Höfken continued. "Rhineland-Palatinate is one of seven German states that has already passed a divestment resolution: The special assets of the state and the funds of state foundations are invested according to sustainable criteria," the minister explained. The Energy Agency Rhineland-Palatinate will support municipalities in the state in establishing divestment approaches in the future, Höfken announced. Here, the discussion is still in its infancy and further development in terms of content is necessary.
Whether municipalities, churches or companies: All players are called upon to examine their investment strategies and invest in a sustainable future. The City of Bonn is one of the pioneer cities with its path to sustainable financial investment. Carsten Buschmann, Head of Department at the City of Bonn, said: "The City of Bonn is pursuing a holistic approach that will be further expanded. Our experience in Bonn has shown that sustainable investing and returns are not mutually exclusive."
Climate Protection Weeks Rhineland-Palatinate:
During the Climate Protection Weeks Rhineland-Palatinate from 12 November to 11 December 2020, experts will discuss concrete instruments and measures against the climate crisis. From climate-efficient construction to climate funds and sustainable management, the events will highlight numerous approaches to achieving climate protection goals. In addition to top-class experts such as Prof. Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Prof. Claudia Kemfert or Christoph Bals, renowned companies and organisations such as BASF, Boehringer Ingelheim and the European Investment Bank, numerous national and international politicians from Germany, Luxembourg, Rwanda, Canada and the EU will be represented.
Detailed information on the climate protection weeks can be found at here
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