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Brochure "Modernisation as a price driver" published

Published

On the costs of modernisation measures for tenants

In November 2016, the Working Group on Tenancy Law in the RAV published the brochure "Price Driver Modernization" was published. It describes in detail the problematic effects of modernisation measures on tenants. In addition, the authors criticise the legal situation and call for fundamental new regulations under tenancy law.


Keywords: Construction and operating costs, Stock, DE-News, New books and studies, Housing policy

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Climate adaptation check for draft resolutions of the municipalities
Published

Climate adaptation check for draft resolutions of the municipalities

The "Climate Adaptation Check" is a new orientation aid for NRW municipalities. The federal state passed the first climate adaptation law in Germany in 2021. The check supports NRW municipalities in implementing the new consideration requirement.
 
Berlin/Cologne. The consequences of climate change have long been felt in German municipalities: more frequent heavy rainfall events, flooding, storms as well as heat waves and prolonged drought. Cities, municipalities and districts must adapt to the unavoidable consequences of climate change as quickly as possible and become more resilient. In July 2021, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia passed the first climate adaptation law in Germany. According to this law, municipalities in NRW are obliged, for example, to take the impacts of climate change into account in their planning and decisions. In order to support municipalities in the implementation, the "Kommunalberatung Klimafolgenanpassung NRW" (Municipal Advice on Climate Change Adaptation NRW), established at Difu, was commissioned by the North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of the Environment to publish an orientation guide. The new "Climate Adaptation Check for Municipalities in NRW" supports municipalities in the implementation of the consideration requirement according to § 6 of the Climate Adaptation Act.
The guidance outlines the essential premises - responsibility, timeliness, comprehensibility - which must be adhered to, makes suggestions for the procedure and gives advice on implementation. As the core of the procedure, a climate adaptation check of draft resolutions - or ideally already for preliminary planning - is recommended, which is to be discussed and adapted locally in each case and, if necessary, combined in a suitable manner with other test procedures (such as sustainability or climate protection). The working aid is also intended to support climate resilient reconstruction in the areas damaged by the heavy rain and flood events of July 2021.
The development has been based on the experiences and assessments of municipalities in NRW and other federal states. It should and can therefore also be a helpful tool for other municipalities in Germany.
The online publication is available free of charge as a flipbook as well as an accessible version.
Background
 
The North Rhine-Westphalia Climate Adaptation Act (KlAnG) states in § 6 Consideration requirement:
(1) In their planning and decision-making, the public bodies shall take into account the purpose of this Act and the objectives set for its fulfilment in an interdisciplinary and integrated manner.
(2) Pursuant to section 13(3), first sentence, of the Federal Climate Protection Act of 12 December 2019 (Federal Law Gazette I p. 2513), when applying economic efficiency criteria in comparative considerations, the cost and
savings over the respective entire useful life of the investment or procurement. In accordance with sentence 2, the expected costs of the negative consequences of climate change shall also be taken into account in an appropriate manner.
Short info: German Institute of Urban Affairs
As the largest urban research institute in the German-speaking world, the German Institute of Urban Affairs (Difu) is the research, training and information institution for cities, municipal associations and planning communities. Whether urban and regional development, municipal economy, urban planning, social issues, environment, transport, culture, law, administrative issues or municipal finance: Founded in 1973, the independent Berlin-based institute - with a further location in Cologne - deals with an extensive range of topics and, on a scientific level, deals in a practical way with all the tasks that municipalities have to deal with today and in the future. The Verein für Kommunalwissenschaften e.V. is the sole shareholder of the research institute, which is run as a non-profit limited company.
Source: DIFU-PM of 20.9.2022



Keywords:
Climate protection, Communities, News Blog NRW, Tools

Market incentive programme for solar thermal energy
Published

Market incentive programme for solar thermal energy

According to the DGS (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sonnenenergie e.V. - German Solar Energy Society), the general conditions for solar thermal systems are more attractive than ever before, which is related to the market incentive programme (MAP) for solar thermal subsidies that was overhauled last year. After years of dwindling sales, the latest collector sales statistics from the German Solar Industry Association (BSW) and the German Heating Industry Association (BDH) show around 7 percent growth from November 2015 to March 2016. Certainly, the level is no longer very high due to the lean years, but there is once again an application backlog at BAFA for a long time. In addition to the financial incentives, the many programme components of the MAP are particularly interesting. Thanks to innovation funding, additional funding for process heat and solar houses, it has become much more attractive.

According to Ministerial Councillor Dr. Frank Heidrich in his introductory lecture at the 26th DGS Thermal Solar Energy Symposium in April 2016, the programme is being promoted by the BMWi in a "communication activation campaign". The DGS considers a merger with the Renewable Energies Heat Act in the course of the EnEV amendment to be a more suitable funding approach for solar thermal energy.

In the study "What does the energy turnaround cost?" by Fraunhofer ISEwhich deals with the ways to transform the German energy system by 2050, Prof. Dr Hans-Martin Henning concludes that economically good solutions are only possible with solar thermal energy.



Keywords:
DE-News, Funding, Climate protection, Solar thermal

Forests in NRW particularly badly damaged in 2018
Published

Forests in NRW particularly badly damaged in 2018

Environment Minister Ursula Heinen-Esser presents this year's NRW Forest Condition Report: "Our forests are in a worrying condition. This is because the combined effect of storms in the spring, followed by extreme summer drought and then heavy bark beetle infestation in the coniferous forests means that the damage this year is considerable."

Thus, 39 percent of the trees surveyed show clear crown thinning and another 39 percent show weak crown thinning, i.e. leaf loss. This leaves only 22 percent without crown defoliation. Since the field surveys on crown condition had to be completed in August for methodological reasons and the evaluations on the full extent of bark beetle damage are still ongoing, the actual forest damage is likely to be even greater.

2018: First storm, then drought, finally bark beetle

North Rhine-Westphalia was particularly hard hit by Hurricane Friederike in January. 2.5 million solid cubic metres of "storm wood" were produced. The months of April to August were the warmest and sunniest and at the same time the months with the least precipitation since the German Meteorological Service began keeping records in 1881. The bark beetle species "spruce bark beetle" and "copper bark beetle" proliferated in the spruce forests due to the wood that had accumulated as a result of the storm and the summer drought, which severely weakened the trees' defences. Spruce forests cover about one third of the forest area in North Rhine-Westphalia. The current state of the surveys suggests that this is the largest bark beetle calamity in several decades.

Task Force "Bark Beetle

In order to cope with the current difficult situation for the North Rhine-Westphalian forestry sector, Minister Heinen-Esser recently set up a "bark beetle" task force. This task force will primarily work to ensure that the damaged wood is removed from the forest as quickly as possible and that a further mass reproduction of bark beetles next year can be contained as far as possible.

Requirements due to climate change

Minister Heinen-Esser: "In addition to the acute measures, however, it is also important for the state government to develop forests that are more stable and resistant to climate change in the longer term. To this end, the new silviculture concept for North Rhine-Westphalia and other supporting instruments for forest owners will be presented shortly. Important information for forest management will soon be offered in a modern and user-friendly way via the new internet portal 'Waldinfo.NRW'."

Background to the State of the Forest Report:

The vitality of forest trees is recorded annually according to a uniform nationwide method. For this purpose, the condition of the tree crowns of about 10,000 trees is assessed by forestry experts for North Rhine-Westphalia and other factors are also taken into account. The forest condition has deteriorated since the beginning of the survey in 1984. Since about 2000, the damage measure has remained at a roughly constant high level with annual fluctuations. The annual forest condition report also includes supplementary technical information that is not represented by the method in the narrower sense (z. B. this year statements on amounts of damaged wood).

The new instruments for forest management in climate change are part of the climate adaptation strategy for forests and forest management in North Rhine-Westphalia. Important implementation projects are the new silviculture concept NRW, the state-wide forest location map and the new forest information system NRW (here especially the new internet portal Waldinfo.NRW). Also relevant here are the forest-relevant specialist information systems on climate change.

 

State of the Forest Report 2018

Long version
Abstract

Source: Press release Wald und Holz NRW from 21.11.18



Keywords:
DE-News, Wood construction, Sustainable management, News Blog NRW, Ecology, Economics

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