The SOLAR.shell research project clarifies how the yields of photovoltaic components on building facades can be increased by up to 50 percent compared to vertically installed PV elements by tilting and turning the elements.
Continue reading here at Detail: Article
Strengthen energy refurbishment of buildings and demand responsibility from landlords.
Housing policy must create supportive framework conditions and thus contribute to the reduction of living space.
"For a necessary energy turnaround in the housing industry, conditions must be created that demonstrate noticeable incentives for owners and users to consume less energy in the future," says DAI President Dipl.-Ing. Architekt Arnold Ernst. On the occasion of the Federation Day of the German Associations of Architects and Engineers (DAI), a declaration on current topics of building and planning culture is published in annual succession. For previous DAI statements, see below.
In Germany, CO2 emissions from buildings are equivalent to the pollution caused by traffic. The intensity of the public discussion does not reflect this. This is all the more reason why architects and engineers are called upon to show responsibility in their field and to demonstrate ways in which they intend to make their contribution to sustainable climate protection.
The technical solutions are available, and we need to develop better methods, especially for the sustainable retrofitting of existing buildings. However, there is a lack of incentives for owners and users to implement and tolerate energy-efficient refurbishment. It is easier to demand climate protection than to pay for it. The environmental impact of CO2 emissions is (still) free, but avoiding it costs money, a lot of money in existing buildings. The landlord shies away from the investment because only a small part can be passed on to the rents. The tenant has an understandable insistence on not changing the size and location of his flat, especially as long as the parties keep deciding on new socially undifferentiated benefits in the competition for the cheapest rents. Both landlords and tenants must make their economic contribution in order to finance the comprehensive energy-efficient refurbishment of the housing stock.
The benchmark for all participants must be the Polluter pays principle be. Those who contribute to the release of CO2 must have an economic advantage if they actively participate in the reduction; those who refuse to participate must have an economic disadvantage as a result.
The DAI demands:
Both levies make it more expensive to live in buildings that are not optimised in terms of energy efficiency. Weighing up the direct financial burden on those affected and the long-term burden of climate change, the DAI considers the additional costs incurred to be justified. Support for economically weak households in line with the social market economy must ensure that the entitlement to adequate housing is met.
As appropriate in the sense of social indigence 30 sqm per person + 20 sqm for each additional person in a dwelling are considered. Appropriate transitional periods should on the one hand avoid social hardship and on the other hand continuously stimulate stronger incentives for the adaptation of housing conditions to economic performance. In order to also stimulate the corresponding adjustment processes above the level of social need, the regulation of the rent level should be waived, but in the case of existing tenancies with an appropriate limitation of the annual increase, also in order to facilitate the adjustment to economic performance.
DAI Presidium
Note sdg21: the statement presented here does not reflect the opinion of the sdg21 editorial team.
Keywords:
Stock, DE-News, Renewable, Climate protection, Affordable housing, Housing, Housing policy, Thermal insulation, Ecology
The boom in the bicycle trade, which has been ongoing for years, continued in 2018. As reported by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on the occasion of World Health Day on 7 April, the retail trade in bicycles, parts and accessories recorded an increase in sales of 11.9 % in real terms in 2018 compared to the previous year.
880,000 electric bikes imported into Germany
The trend towards electric bicycles with a rated continuous power of up to 250 watts is reflected in foreign trade: 880,000 electric bicycles with a total value of 789.6 million euros were imported to Germany in 2018. This corresponded to an increase in volume of 32.3 % compared to 2017. With a share of 23 % of the total imports of electric bicycles to Germany, Hungary was the most important importing country. Other important supplier countries were Vietnam with a share of 17.2 % and the Netherlands with 10.2 %.
Prices for conventional bikes are rising faster than prices for electric bikes
Consumers had to spend more money on pedelecs and e-bikes in 2018 than three years previously: between 2015 and 2018, prices in this market segment rose by 1.8 %. However, prices rose less sharply than consumer prices overall in this period (+3.8 %). In comparison, prices for bicycles without an electric motor rose by an above-average 4.5 % between 2015 and 2018.
Opportunity for bargains outside of the cycling season
Whether with or without an electric motor: consumer prices for bicycles fluctuate slightly depending on the time of year. Bicycles are cheaper around the turn of the year than in summer. If you are looking for good value for money, you can buy cheaper on average outside the cycling season.
Source: Press release of the Federal Statistical Office from 3 April 2019
Keywords:
Stakeholders, Bike-/Velo-City, DE-News, Climate protection, Mobility, Sustainable management, Ecology
The Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo creates more space for cyclists and pedestrians - and wants to push cars out of the city in the long term. Everything else is "old-fashioned".
Read what is planned in the article from 9.1.2017:
www.faz.net/...paris-buergermeisterin-anne-hidalgo-sagt-autos-den-kampf-an-14611364.html
Keywords:
Stock, Bike-/Velo-City, Communities, Mobility, News Blog France, Environmental policy
Annual DIW Heat Monitor based on data from energy service provider ista Deutschland GmbH: Heating energy demand in residential buildings declines again for the first time since 2015 - Rising prices, however, cause heating expenditure to increase by 2.4 percent - CO2emissions have fallen by 21 percent overall since 2010, but by only 2.6 percent when adjusted for temperature - Energy-efficient renovation in residential buildings almost stagnant
Last year - for the first time since 2015 - tenants in Germany used slightly less heating (minus 3.2 per cent). However, at an annual average of 130 kWh per square metre of heated living space, the heating energy requirement in apartment buildings is now only back at the 2010 level. CO2-emissions have not fallen nearly as much as they would have to in order to achieve the 2030 climate targets: adjusted for temperature, they have only fallen by 2.6 per cent since 2010. These are the key findings of this year's heating monitor calculated by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin) on the basis of data from energy service provider ista Deutschland GmbH. They are based on the heating bills of 300,000 multi-party houses in Germany and are adjusted for climate and weather conditions.
"If we only look at the absolute reduction in CO2 emissions, appearances are deceptive" Jan Stede
As energy prices for heating oil and natural gas rose by an average of 5.6 per cent last year, tenants spent 2.4 per cent more on space heating while demand fell. The regional differences in heating energy requirements and prices are very large. In western German households, seven per cent more is heated per square metre than in eastern German households. In 2019, heating energy requirements were highest in the Schleswig-Holstein Southwest and East Frisia regions, and lowest in central Mecklenburg/Rostock and Allgäu. Heating energy cost the most in Saarland and the least in Hamburg.
According to the study, there has been a significant overall reduction in CO2-emissions in the residential building sector have fallen by 20.7 per cent since 2010. However, this is largely due to the warmer winters. Adjusted for temperature and weather conditions, CO2-emissions have only fallen by 2.6 per cent over the past ten years.
"If we look at the absolute reduction in CO2-emissions, appearances are deceptive. The reduction of around 21 per cent, which would already make the climate targets unattainable, is hardly due to efforts to increase building efficiency. There is therefore no reason to scale back efforts to reduce emissions," says DIW economist Jan Stede, summarising the results.
"A sober assessment of ten years of building refurbishment shows that energy-efficient refurbishment does not automatically lead to less CO2. Climate policy measures must provide the right incentives for everyone involved: for landlords to invest and for tenant households to consume sparingly," comments Thomas Zinnöcker, CEO of energy and property service provider ista, on the results of the study. "More focus on results, unbureaucratic implementation and accompanying measures for consumers will make climate protection in buildings more effective."
Investment in the energy-efficient refurbishment of existing residential buildings is still too low to achieve the climate targets in the building sector. The plan was to increase the refurbishment rate to two per cent per year. Most recently, however, it was only one per cent. While energy-efficient refurbishment still accounted for a third of all measures in the building stock in 2010, in 2019 it was only a quarter.
The authors of the DIW study are therefore calling for stronger incentives for energy-efficient building renovations. "The higher subsidy rate for energy-efficient refurbishment and the planned CO2-pricing from next year could create additional incentives to invest more in this area again," hopes study author Franziska Schütze. With the CO2-However, care should be taken to ensure that social effects are cushioned. Tenants, especially those on low incomes, are disproportionately burdened by higher energy prices and have little influence on the building's energy efficiency and energy source. "Reimbursement of the income from the CO2-pricing in the form of a climate premium would relieve the burden on low and middle incomes and at the same time minimise the incentive effect of higher CO2-prices," suggests Jan Stede.
A commentary by the German Solar Energy Society (DGS) from 2 October 2020:
www.dgs.de/news/en-detail/021020-lediglich-effizient-klimaschutz-im-gebaeude/
Source: DIW press release from 30 September 2020
Keywords:
Stock, DE-News, Research, Climate protection, New books and studies, Thermal insulation
