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Video (2018) Lecture by Prof. Austmann on the great transformation.

Published 4 January 2019

1 h 00 min, 11/2018

In his lecture, Prof. Dr. Henning Austmann addressed the need for cultural change, even beyond the culture of living and building. Technology and politics have hardly been able to achieve any significant progress - let alone the necessary success - in recent years. A rethink and a cultural change are therefore needed so that climate change does not destroy existence on earth.

The lecture recording was made in the context of the symposium "Herbstforum Altbau" in Stuttgart on 21.11.2018.

Further information:
www.zukunftaltbau.de/herbstforum

Keywords: Stock, DE-News, Movies, Movies > 45 Min, Climate protection, News Blog Baden-Württemberg, Quarters, Resource efficiency, SDG 2030, Settlements, City, Sufficiency, Transition Town, Environmental policy, Housing, Aesthetics / Architecture / Building Culture, Life cycle assessment

Published 29 May 2020

With building culture through the Corona crisis: planning and building industry proposes four-point plan

The Federal Chamber of Architects (BAK) and the Federal Foundation for Building Culture, on behalf of the planning and building industry, today presented their proposal for an "Innovation Programme for Building Culture" to politicians in Berlin.

Anne Katrin Bohle, State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of the Interior, for Construction and Home Affairs, accepted the four-point plan. In it, the authors suggest measures to overcome the Corona crisis that will have a sustainable economic and social impact.

"The structured approach of politics to the Covid19 pandemic, has also shown the opportunities and necessities of infrastructural reconstruction," says Reiner Nagel, Chairman of the Board of the Bundesstiftung Baukultur. "The planning and construction industry can help to create sustainable added value for society in the economic recovery that now lies ahead, for example in the areas of mobility, digitalisation, housing or climate protection. The proposed measures offer the opportunity to create high benefits for sustainable services of general interest and employment in Germany and Europe."

"When developing an innovation programme, measures must be linked to concerns that were also being worked on at full speed before the crisis," emphasises BAK President Barbara Ettinger-Brinckmann. "Every investment offers opportunities for a better quality of life, and the question of added value for our society must be at the centre of our actions. A requirement for quality and sustainability should be attached to every subsidy. In doing so, the public builder must act as a role model and invest specifically in the value of our built environment, both in urban and rural areas."

The "Innovation Programme Building Culture" comprises four focal points:

1. additional resources for innovation and future projects
The Corona Crisis must be an innovation driver for current social challenges. This includes the transformation of cities, for example with a view to climate change, changed working models and new mobility and consumption habits. Consistent support for innovative approaches can move Germany forward in the competition between locations and put both public and private developers back in a position to set an example with their buildings.

2. implement climate protection in buildings
The construction sector can make the greatest contribution to climate protection of all economic sectors: it is one of the most resource-intensive industries, but at the same time offers great potential for savings. What is needed is a programme for sustainable business, climate protection and ongoing ecological change. Boosting existing KfW programmes to promote energy-efficient refurbishment and making holistic approaches to modernisation easier to implement by law can trigger construction activities and at the same time realise climate policy goals.

3. realise existing plans now
Projects that have been planned and prepared should now be implemented quickly. The time limit of the necessary economic stimulus funds leads to corresponding pressure to act. The construction industry can continue to take on tasks from a given employment situation and avoid job losses. Public-sector investments that promote long-term structural change and trigger private investment are particularly sensible at present.

4. create a solid basis for effective economic stimulus measures
Economic policy with the above-mentioned priorities can only be implemented if all actors are put in a position to actually implement the major challenges quickly and appropriately. The accelerated award and approval of existing and prepared projects would in itself have a positive economic effect. The temporary or permanent streamlining of structures and processes should be ensured.

You can find the detailed four-point plan here as a
Download

The innovation programme is supported by:

AHO - Committee of the Associations and Chambers of Engineers and Architects for the Fee Regulations e.V.
BDA - Association of German Architects
BDIA - Association of German Interior Architects e.V.
BDLA - Association of German Landscape Architects e.V.
BDVI- Association of publicly appointed surveyors e.V.
BFB - Bundesverband der Freien Berufe e.V. (Federal Association of Liberal Professions)
DAI - Association of German Architects' and Engineers' Associations
DASL -Deutsche Akademie für Städtebau und Landesplanung e.V. (German Academy for Urban and Regional Planning)
Die Stadtentwickler Bundesverband e.V.
DV - German Association for Housing, Urban and Regional Planning
HDB - German Construction Industry Federation
IfR - Information Circle for Spatial Planning e.V.
VBI - Association of Consulting Engineers e.V.
VDV - Association of German Surveying Engineers e.V.
VDMA Building Technology
VfA - Association of Freelance Architects of Germany e.V.
VPB - Verband Privater Bauherren e.V. (Association of Private Building Owners)
ZBI - Central Federation of Engineering Associations e.V.
ZDB - Zentralverband des Deutschen Baugewerbes e.V. (Central Association of the German Construction Industry)

Source: PM from 26.05.2020 of the BAK

Keywords:
DE-News, Renewable, Climate protection, Mobility, Quarters, Resource efficiency, SDG 2030, Settlements, City, Transition Town, Environmental policy, Housing, Housing policy, Aesthetics / Architecture / Building Culture

Published 15. July 2017

The green MobilPass

Four different tickets to get from A to B? Registered with five services for car sharing, e-scooters or rental bikes? That's annoying. The Greens want to simplify mobility and link up rail, public transport, cycling and the car. In the city and in the country. This is possible with the green MobilPass.

This good concept has been around for a while. Finally, a party is including it in its election manifesto.

Keywords:
Movies, Movies < 4 Min, Media, Mobility, SDG 2030, Environmental policy

Published 10. July 2020

European Green Deal and German Council Presidency: Climate neutrality can only be achieved with ambitious climate targets

CO₂-Emissions should be reduced by 65 percent over the next ten years compared to 1990 in order to achieve climate neutrality - Energy system must be converted to 100 percent renewable energies by 2040 - Investment of 3,000 billion euros required to meet European Green Deal and Paris climate targets - German EU Council Presidency can ensure that Corona aid packages link economic stimulus with climate protection

The European Green Deal sets the bar very high: Europe is to become climate neutral by 2050. However, these targets can only be achieved if CO₂-emissions by 2030 not only by 40 percent compared to 1990, but by 65 percent. To achieve this, energy production would have to be completely converted to renewable energies by 2040. The necessary investments are high, but they will pay off. These are the most important results of a new study by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin). On the occasion of the German EU Council Presidency, the economists from DIW Berlin and the Technical University of Berlin involved in the study have calculated under which circumstances the goals of the European Green Deal could be achieved and what costs this would entail. "So far, the EU Commission has assumed a CO₂-reduction target of 40 percent. But this will not make Europe climate-neutral by 2050, as our calculations show. The targets must be much more ambitious," says study author Claudia Kemfert.

The authors have therefore compared a baseline scenario of 40 percent with a climate protection scenario that assumes a CO₂-reduction of 65 percent by 2030 compared to 1990, as demanded by some groups in the EU Parliament. In fact, the calculations show that under these circumstances, the climate neutrality targeted in the Green Deal could be achieved. "However, this is only possible if we switch our energy system to 100 percent renewables - and do so already by 2040," says study author Karlo Hainsch. Even with a complete switch to renewables, the energy supply would remain secure, as the study's hourly calculations show - even for countries that still rely heavily on fossil or nuclear energy, such as Poland and France.

"The German EU presidency could kill two birds with one stone: economic recovery and climate protection." Christian von Hirschhausen

Such a scenario would save around 60 billion tonnes of CO₂. "However, a switch to 100 percent renewable energy cannot be had for free. Extensive investments will have to be made," says study author Leonard Göke. According to the calculations, the investment required for renewable energies amounts to around 3000 billion euros. This is an enormous amount, but it is offset by savings of almost 2000 billion euros alone, which would no longer have to be spent on importing fossil fuels. Since both the EU and most national governments in Europe have put together extensive aid packages because of the Corona crisis, these could form a good basis for supporting the necessary investments.

"The German EU Presidency could kill two birds with one stone: economic recovery and climate protection," says study author Christian von Hirschhausen. "To do so, it must ensure that the extensive stimulus packages under the European Green Deal are used for investments in renewable energies and energy efficiency." In addition, there is still the Just Transition Fund, which the EU has set up to provide financial support for structural change in the regions of Europe that are affected very differently by the measures. "Particular care must be taken to ensure that the funds are channelled into sustainable climate-neutral projects and not used for the de facto stabilisation of fossil fuel development paths," warns study author Pao-Yu Oei. The current economic crisis, which is setting new parameters worldwide and across sectors, could now be used to decisively tackle the necessary measures towards climate neutrality.

Source: DIW press release of July 8, 2020

Keywords:
Renewable, Funding, Climate protection, Mobility, Sustainable management, News Blog Europe (without DE), Resource efficiency, Transition Town, Environmental policy