Fulda is Germany's first "star city"

For its fight against light pollution, the city of Fulda in eastern Hesse has been honored as Germany's first dark sky municipality by the International Dark Sky Association in the USA. Fulda Mayor Heiko Wingenfeld (CDU) said: "A large part of light pollution is avoidable, and we want to set an example for other municipalities with intelligent solutions." Light pollution refers to the brightening of the night sky by artificial light sources whose light radiates into the atmosphere.

Daniel Schreiner (independent), the city's planning officer, explained that too much light, and above all the wrong kind of light in cold light colours, has been proven to affect the lives of many nocturnal species, disturb plants and damage people's health. It is easy to use artificial light according to location and need, he said. "In this way, you can avoid light pollution, reduce costs and contribute to climate protection by saving energy."

Following Fulda's application, the International Dark Sky Association awarded the city the title in January. According to the information, Fulda is the fifth municipality in Europe. Worldwide, Fulda is even the second largest city to receive this status.

Source: dpa Feb 12, 2019

Keywords: Stakeholders, Greening / climate adaptation, DE-News, Near-natural open space design, News Blog Europe (without DE), News Blog Hesse, Wildlife/animal friendly construction

Published 5 February 2020

Vorarlberg has included the "Holz von Hier" label in the new subsidy guidelines for residential buildings

Recently, the Austrian state of Vorarlberg published the subsidy guidelines for 2020 and 2021 for residential renovation and new construction in the private and public sectors. The climate-friendly procurement of wood and wood products from the region is anchored in these guidelines. The origin of the wood must be proven by means of the "Holz von Hier" label recently introduced in Austria or comparable certificates.

Financial advantage for building owners through regional wood

If regional wood is used, the costs eligible for housing subsidies increase by 20 euros per square metre of roof and façade area, for example. For an average-sized single-family house, this can add up to around 4,000 to 5,000 euros. In the case of new buildings, the recognised costs for a loan under the housing subsidy also increase by 20 euros per square metre of floor space for the use of regional wood for the windows, and by as much as 30 euros for the façade.

"With this innovation, we have placed climate-friendly procurement in the foreground, without the risk of legal discrimination against companies in border regions," says Provincial Councillor Christian Gantner, emphasising the priorities. Unlike other quality labels, "Holz von Hier" is not oriented towards state or national borders, but only takes into account transport distances along the entire processing chain. Cross-border cooperation in the wood processing chain is thus strengthened. "In the long term, thanks to "Holz von Hier", regional, rural businesses can be strengthened and imports from more distant countries such as Russia and Scandinavia can be replaced," adds DI Andreas Amann, Head of the Forestry Department of the Provincial Government.

Trend reversal towards more regionality and climate protection in timber construction

The inclusion of the "Holz von Hier" label can stimulate demand among end customers for domestic timber. In public tenders, the proof of origin is already required in accordance with the law, since it has found its way into the specifications for the municipal building certificate. In order to use the label, the entire processing chain must be traceable - all companies from the sawmill to the dealer to the window manufacturer must join the initiative if they want to offer domestic wood with chain-of-custody certification.

"We think that with the inclusion of 'Holz von Hier' in the housing guidelines, a trend reversal towards more regionality and climate protection in construction can be initiated," hopes Erich Reiner, contact person for Holz von Hier in Austria. This could succeed even better if the regionality of the entire building construction is taken into account in future revisions of the subsidy guidelines. The climate-friendly use of wood is in line with the forestry strategy of the state of Vorarlberg and supports the efforts to achieve the energy autonomy goals.

Link
www.holz-von-hier.eu

Keywords:
Building materials / Construction, Procurement, Funding, Wood construction, Climate protection, NaWaRohs, Sustainable management, News Blog Europe (without DE), News Blog Austria, Resource efficiency, Vorarlberg