In the run-up to the UN World Summit on Human Settlements Habitat III, the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU) points to the major challenges of increasing urbanization. In its report "Moving Humanity: The Transformative Power of Cities", the WBGU stresses that a brief window of opportunity is opening up in the next decades of urbanization "to [...]
Kategorie für Blog: New books and studies
144 posts
The member states of the United Nations want to agree on a new urban agenda at the Habitat III conference in Quito. This "New Urban Agenda" is to serve as a political guideline for urban development over the next two decades. Together with Friedrich Kitschelt, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Federal Minister of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs Barbara Hendricks will take part in the official opening [...]
In Jerry Yudelson's latest book, "Reinventing Green Building: Why Certification Systems Aren't Working and What We Can Do About It," published in June 2016, the American pioneer of sustainable building writes that certification systems are not advancing the needed sustainable development in the building sector quickly and substantially enough.
In the 2nd quarterly report on the development of renewable energies in Germany published by the Renewable Energies Statistics Working Group, it becomes clear that they are not growing as fast as in the previous year. The addition of photovoltaics fell from 614 megawatts in the first half of 2015 to only 514 megawatts in the current year [...]
The number of sustainably constructed buildings worldwide will double by 2018. This is the conclusion of the study "World Green Building Trends 2016", which was published this week by the market research organization Dodge Data & Analytics. More than 1,000 architects, engineers and building professionals from 69 countries participated in the study [...]
The flame retardant HBCD, which was mainly used in polystyrene insulation boards, has been banned since March 2016. But trouble looms from the many millions of cubic metres of HBCD-containing insulation material that have already been installed in Germany. The flame retardant hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) has been largely banned from trade and use in the EU since spring 2016. HBCD was [...]
The EEG is supposed to achieve the goals of the Paris climate summit. But at the rate of expansion to date, according to a study by Berlin's HTW, we will have to wait until 2150 for Germany to switch completely to renewable energies.
Whether it's financial incentives for moving to smaller apartments, mandatory bicycle parking spaces or public tenders that are based on social and environmental criteria - there are a variety of ways to reduce the consumption of space, energy and materials in municipalities. This is shown by a study of the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy [...].
The gap between knowledge and action is often wide. Michael Kopatz explains at the beginning of his book "Ökoroutine" why we often do not do what we think is right: out of routine. Because the here and now determines our actions. Because it is difficult to escape advertising. Or because sustainable [...]
The master thesis "Living without a car - niche concept or future model for sustainable urban development? Planning and implementation of car-free and car-reduced urban development projects in comparison" by Andreas Blechschmidt (2016; 104 pages) is now available online.
Accessible as an interactive world map, the "New World Atlas of Artificial Sky Brighness" is now publicly available, marking the first global measurement of light pollution since 2001. Further information: New atlas of light pollution: a third of humanity can no longer see the Milky Way | WIRED Germany
The planning practice and planning culture of German cities are the focus of a comprehensive handout produced with the cooperation of the German Association of Cities and Towns and the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development. The brochure brings together 55 projects from 34 cities that show how multifaceted municipal planning practice is implemented in Germany. The documentation of successful [...]
The German Habitat Forum ended today with the "Berlin Recommendations". Thomas Silberhorn, Parliamentary State Secretary of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and Gunther Adler, State Secretary of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, handed over the recommendations to the Secretary General of the Habitat III Conference, Joan Clos. The "Berlin Recommendations" are intended as a contribution to the new [...]
In the new brochure "Finishing and Designing with Renewable Raw Materials" published by the Agency for Renewable Resources (Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e. V.). (FNR) provides a compact overview of bio-based building and furnishing products for interior designers, renovators and builders. The topics range from floor coverings, paints and wood protection systems to wooden windows and furniture for interior [...]
The New Energy Outlook 2016 (NEO) from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) assumes significantly lower prices for coal and gas than the forecast from the previous year. However, BNEF now also expects stronger cost reductions for solar and wind energy. According to NEO 2016, the LCOE of [...]
Roof extensions offer enormous housing potential A great opportunity for more housing in Germany lies on the roofs: More than 1.5 million additional flats could be created by adding storeys to roofs. And this could happen in places where living space is already scarce and housing is expensive: in large cities, conurbations and university towns.
Method for the holistic analysis of planning concepts by Stephan Anders 39,- Euro | ISBN 978-3-946319-02-3, 310 pages with numerous color illustrations, 19 x 25,5 cm, Softcover - May 2016 Melting glaciers, floods and the smog in cities are just a few visible signs of the need for sustainable development. Sustainable neighborhoods can [...]
Maic Verbücheln and Susanne Dähner (eds.), Deutsches Institut für Urbanistik Special Publication "Klimaschutz in der Stadt- und Regionalplanung. Renewable Energies and Energy Efficiency in Municipal Planning Practice", Berlin, February 2016 (pdf, 9 MB)
ifeu-Institut Heidelberg commissioned by the Heinrich Böll Foundation In recent years, many cities around the world have committed themselves to significantly reducing their greenhouse gas emissions by improving their heat supply and thus making an important contribution to climate protection. Despite the energy transition, Germany is lagging behind in this endeavour because the energy transition [...]
With the many successful, new examples of façade integration of photovoltaics and solar thermal energy, the pages starting on p.36 are particularly interesting for architects. In addition, the study provides detailed fundamentals of building-integrated solar-active systems and shows their potential. Hegger, Manfred; Drebes, Christoph; Wurzbacher, Steffen (2015): benefit E - Gebäudeintegrierte solaraktive Systeme (Final Report), [...].
Timber construction can be cheaper than standard construction - at the same time significantly better CO2 balance Current comparative calculations based on realized new buildings in timber construction show: Building with wood does not have to be more expensive than standard construction methods. This result is surprising, as it contradicts the common perception that timber construction is more expensive. At the same time, the CO2 balance of timber construction is significantly better [...].
Hrsg. Wohnbund e.V. Creating sufficient affordable housing - especially in European conurbations - is one of the great challenges of our future and calls for new solutions. In view of demographic change, changing family structures and growing environmental awareness, completely new forms of housing have developed in Europe: shared living for young and [...]
NEW November 2015 | Types and constructions Current timber engineering at a glance Typologically arranged overview with 24 current timber buildings Various typologies and constructions in timber: wide-span halls, light post-compaction and prefabricated building elements
With more than 1,700 completed buildings, SolarActiveHouses are no longer a marginal phenomenon. What has been missing so far is a scientific evaluation of this heat supply concept. To this end, researchers have measured nine solar houses over several heating periods. The responsible project manager Gerhard Stryi-Hipp presented the interim results at the OTTI symposium "Thermal Solar Energy". Read the further in the [...]
