Search

Search
- Search

Two residential building refurbishments to Efficiency House Plus level

Published 19. July 2016

The renovation project "Efficiency House Plus in Old Buildings" shows how two dilapidated rows of houses from the 1930s can be brought up to plus-energy standards - and in some cases that good architecture can be created in the process.

Location: Pfuhler Straße 4-8 and 10-14, D-89231 Neu-Ulm
Architects: Werner Sobek Stuttgart and o5 architekten bda - raab hafke lang
Builder: NUWOG housing company of the city of Neu-Ulm

Further information: DETAIL-Article "Double experiment: Two residential building renovations in Neu-Ulm." by Jakob Schoof, published online on 19.07.2016

Keywords: Stock, Renewable, Climate protection, News Blog Bavaria, PlusEnergy house/settlement

Bremen: Pflicht für Gründächer und insektenfreundliche Freiräume

Published 1 April 2019

Bremen: Mandatory green roofs and insect-friendly open spaces

More green flat roofs and open spaces planted as insect-friendly as possible in new building areas - these are the key points of a local law that the building and environment deputation is dealing with today. For new buildings with flat roofs of 100 square metres or more, greening will be mandatory. Row houses and hall roofs, for which greening would cause unreasonably high costs, remain exempt. The greening of new flat roofs serves, among other things, to reduce flooding caused by heavy rain. Likewise, the planting of open spaces will be obligatory in new buildings in order to create more habitat for endangered insects in the densely populated city and to promote the infiltration of water. "With more green roofs, Bremen is preparing itself for the consequences of climate change," says parliamentary group leader Maike Schaefer, "we Greens have been campaigning for this for a long time and are pleased with the decision. Extreme precipitation will hit Bremen more frequently as a result of climate change. We have to contain the danger of flooding caused by prolonged heavy rainfall. Flooded cellars and flooded streets affect people's lives and threaten the logistics location. In order not to leave Bremen out in the rain, we will henceforth prescribe more green flat roofs. Green roofs retain precipitation. A large part of the water evaporates, the rest runs off with a time delay and thus relieves the sewage system. Walk-on flat roofs can also be used as attractive recreational areas with the plants. Last but not least, green roofs filter pollutants from the air, provide a pleasant building climate during heat waves and serve endangered insects. Insect protection must be given more weight. The dramatic loss of bees, butterflies & co. due to agricultural toxins and sealing is threatening an ecological disaster: flowers lack pollinators, birds lack food, pests lack natural enemies. Small insects are ecological giants. We must stop the loss of insects. Green roofs are just as suitable for this as insect-friendly planted areas in new development areas."

Germanwatch: Climate Protection Index - The global energy transition has begun

The Paris Climate Agreement has given renewable energies and energy efficiency a global tailwind. The Climate Protection Index 2017 presented today by Germanwatch shows a stable upward trend. Overall, however, the global energy transition is still proceeding too slowly to make its contribution to the Paris climate goals, warns the environment and development organisation Germanwatch. The election of Donald Trump as US president could slow down or even slow down the necessary transformation in the USA.

Overall, the twelfth edition of the Climate Protection Index gives cause for cautious optimism: "The conditions for a global energy transition have never been better than at present. This is mainly due to the further decreasing costs of renewable energies and efficiency technologies," says Jan Burck of Germanwatch, lead author of the Index. "Investments in fossil energies are becoming increasingly risky. There are no longer any understandable excuses for governments to hesitate in implementing the Paris climate agreement. Some states have recognised this, others have not yet caught up."

To the Climate Protection Index:
The Climate Protection Index (currently the twelfth edition in a row) was developed as an instrument for more transparency and comparability in international climate policy. Based on standardised criteria, the index evaluates and compares the climate protection performance of 58 countries, which together are responsible for more than 90% of energy-related emissions worldwide. The first three places have remained vacant every year so far, as no country is doing enough to prevent dangerous climate change. Denmark was on the verge of becoming the first country to break into the top 3. This was prevented by the recent shift to a much less ambitious climate policy (More on methods and calculation in the brochure "The Climate Change Performance Index - Background and Methodology").

Climate Protection Index 2017 (in English, summary in German as well as maps and graphics): https://germanwatch.org/ksi

Keywords:
DE-News, Renewable, Climate protection, UN (United Nations), Environmental policy

Published 16 May 2023

Second PV Summit at the BMWK: "More speed in the expansion of solar energy".

PV strategy presented

Today, Federal Minister of Economics and Climate Protection Robert Habeck presented the second PV-The aim is to significantly accelerate the expansion of solar energy in Germany. The goal is to significantly accelerate the expansion of solar energy in Germany. To this end, the strategy identifies measures in a total of eleven fields of action. The spectrum ranges from measures in the area of energy policy to the topics of securing skilled labour, industrial value creation in Europe and technology development. This was preceded by a first photovoltaic summit in March 2023. Since March, the PV strategy has been consulted. More than 600 comments were received.

Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection Robert Habeck says: "Photovoltaics is one of the cheapest energy sources of all and is one of the most important sources of electricity generation of the future. By 2030, the share of renewable energies in gross electricity consumption is to be 80 percent. Photovoltaics, with an installed capacity of 215 gigawatts by 2030, is expected to make an important contribution here. This shows that we have a lot of work ahead of us. But we can see that the expansion is picking up. Last year it was over 7 gigawatts. The interim target for the current year is 9 gigawatts. The chances that we will reach this interim target are good: in the first quarter of 2023, just under 2.7 gigawatts were already added. GW newly installed.

With the strategy presented today, we want to significantly accelerate the expansion and remove all the brakes that have prevented a faster pace of expansion so far".

In recent months, the German government has already launched numerous measures to accelerate the expansion of renewable energies, including increasing the tendering volumes, adjusting the remuneration rates and removing regulatory hurdles. The PV-strategy now focuses on remaining barriers.

Fields of action of the photovoltaic strategy:

Ground-mounted systemsFrom 2026 onwards, we will need an addition of 11 GW
per year. For this, sufficient land must be available and planning and approval procedures must become faster. In addition, innovative concepts such as agri-PV to prevent land competition.
Roof systems: With the PV-strategy, we want to give a boost to the segment of larger building installations in the commercial sector. Also in the area of small PV-The strategy contains improvements and simplifications for the use of the plants. The target is 11 GW Additions per year from 2026.
Tenant electricity and communal building supplyToday, the roofs of apartment buildings are used far too little for PV used. To change this, we will introduce a new model for communal building supply. This will enable the on-site use of solar power for all parties in the building. In addition, we are improving the existing tenant electricity model.
Balcony-PV: We want balconyPV can be easily used by everyone. In addition, bureaucracy should be eliminated and the systems should be able to be connected quickly.
Mains connectionsWe want to significantly accelerate and simplify the grid connection of both ground-mounted and roof-mounted systems. For larger roof systems we will e.g. simplify the certification process.
AcceptanceWe want to strengthen participation. Topics are here a.o. the financial participation of municipalities and simple rules for citizen energy.
Tax lawThe removal of tax obstacles is important for the ramp-up of the PV. Whether e.g. in the case of trade tax or inheritance tax, the BMWK is committed to further improvements for the PV on.
IndustryWe want to build up industrial production capacities for the entire value chain in Germany and Europe, so that the rising demand can be largely met from our own resources.
can be covered by domestic production.
ProfessionalsWe want to increase the number of skilled workers for production,
Planning, installation and maintenance of PV-plants, a.o. through an increase in training offers and advanced training.
Technology developmentWe want to advance technology development along the entire value chain, a.o. within the framework of the upcoming 8th Energy Research Programme.
European frameworkEU processes and requirements increasingly determine the legal framework in the energy sector. We want to accelerate the PV-expansion at the European level, for example with the EU-strategy for solar energy and within the framework of the "Fit for 55" package.

The implementation of the strategy will start immediately after its publication. Some of the measures are to be implemented within the framework of the sog. "Solar Package I" to the cabinet before the summer break. Further measures, some of which require more preparatory work, are to follow in a second solar package. Even during the legislative work, the BMWK open to suggestions: the e-mail address set up for this purpose will remain pv-strategie@bmwk.bund.de also continues to be active.

You can find the photovoltaic strategy here.

Source: BMWK press release of 05.05.2023

Keywords:
DE-News, Renewable, Climate protection, PV, PlusEnergy house/settlement, Environmental policy