19.6% Timber construction quota in Bavaria: increase of 9% compared to the previous year
Published
4,996 single- and multi-family houses in timber construction were approved in Bavaria in 2015. This early indicator from the State Statistical Office sets a new record in the readiness for timber construction. In terms of building permits, the timber construction rate is thus already at 19.6 percent. In the last 30 years, never before have so many residential buildings made of wood been planned in Bavaria and the above-mentioned value exceeds the construction completions of 2015 by nine percent or 429 residential buildings.
Germanwatch now urgently expects political signals following the conclusion of the interim technical negotiations / Special challenge on the issue of damage and loss recognised, now it is a matter of concrete financing proposals
Bonn (16 June 2022). The results of the ten-day interim negotiations that ended today in preparation for the World Climate Conference in November do not do justice to the urgency of the climate crisis, criticises the environment and development organisation Germanwatch. "The interim negotiations were a technical process of small steps. This does not fit the crisis situation the world is in. It is now up to political decision-makers to translate the preliminary work into big steps," says David Ryfisch, Team Leader for International Climate Policy. "Trust is the foundation of a successful negotiation process. However, this has eroded due to past implementation and financing promises that have been broken. If the new negotiation processes are to be successful, there now needs to be a clear vision from the Egyptian Presidency of the upcoming climate summit on where the journey should go," Ryfisch continues.
Insufficient progress on climate protection endangers 1.5 degree limit
The new climate change work programme is intended to help close the gap in implementing the 1.5 degree limit in this crucial decade. Considerable resistance to clearer steps came from China, Saudi Arabia, India and Brazil. "The major emitters among the emerging economies are resisting being forced to act on climate protection. This is also a reaction to the fact that many of the rich countries of the Global North have not kept their climate protection and financing promises for years," says Ryfisch. In the US, for example, the government is failing to back up its internationally pledged targets with legislation and budgetary resources. The EU, on the other hand, has today issued a declaration on the promotion of fossil gas with Egypt and Israel, after Chancellor Scholz has already been to Africa with the same goal.
"The ambiguity in the European response to the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine makes international partners question the seriousness of the energy transition. The EU and the German government must not sow any doubts globally - this also means not driving African states into a dependence on fossil energy sources whose expiry date is known. This would be a breach of promises made at the last climate summit in Glasgow and at the G7," Ryfisch explains.
Funding to support the most vulnerable
Financial support for the poorest and most vulnerable to deal with damage and loss from climate change has been blocked for years. "There is small progress here. For the first time, all negotiating parties have accepted without ifs and buts that the need for support is real," says Ryfisch. However, due to the lengthiness of the process and past experience, this does little to change the great frustration on the part of the developing countries.
"With the ministerial declarations of the past weeks, the German G7 Presidency has contributed to the fact that industrialised countries are now finally willing to talk about financing for damage and losses. But talking is not enough, concrete pledges of support are now needed. It is up to Chancellor Scholz to put money for a global umbrella for the most vulnerable on the table at the G7 summit at the end of June and then to form a coalition of the willing at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue in July to finally get concrete aid underway," Ryfisch demands.
Building culture is becoming a recognised goal in the real estate industry: with support from the real estate and housing industry, the Institute for Corporate Governance in the German Real Estate Industry (ICG) and the Federal Foundation for Building Culture initiated and developed the Code for building culturea voluntary commitment for the responsible performance of tasks by companies in the real estate industry.
In its role as project developer, planner, builder, owner, etc., the real estate industry bears particular responsibility for the design of our living spaces. At the same time, building culture values and social acceptance form the basis for economic success. The Codex for Building Culture now supports companies in the real estate industry in assuming social responsibility for the consequences of real estate business activities and for the built results on their own initiative and within the framework of self-regulation. The fact that building culture offers added value for the real estate industry has now entered people's minds - but is not always put into practice. In the survey of the participation process for the code, for example, 98% of the companies surveyed stated that the appreciation of historic properties is seen as relevant or at least relevant to a certain extent - only half of the respondents, however, stringently implement this in practice.
Building culture is always closely linked to process quality, which is why the initiators of the Code for Building Culture were keen to involve the players in the real estate industry in the drafting process. Since a personal discussion of the contents was not possible due to the Corona pandemic, companies in the real estate and housing industry were asked in the summer of 2020 to provide feedback on the draft of the Code for Building Culture by means of an online survey and were thus involved. Scientific support was provided by IREBS at the University of Regensburg.
Prof. Dr. Sven Bienert, Chairman of the Institute for Corporate Governance in the German Real Estate Industry /IREBS Institute at the University of Regensburg, is in favour of this code because: "In times of rising land prices and ever higher building densities, the issue of a "good building culture" is becoming increasingly important. This form of social responsibility will also increasingly concern the real estate industry in the future in the ever more important after-use and conversion - for example of churches that are increasingly coming onto the market."
"Our goal is to make the real estate industry fit for the future," says Karin Barthelmes-Wehr, Managing Director of the ICG. "This includes encouraging the players in the industry to deal with all the requirements of ESG (Environment Social Governance) and to forge new alliances in this regard. For this, the Code for Building Culture we have presented provides a very good basis in the field of planning, development and construction."
Reiner Nagel, Chairman of the Board of the Federal Foundation for Building Culture, emphasises: "The Code for Building Culture now focuses on the responsibility of real estate business activities for the spatial impact of the built environment on us and the resulting consequences, with which companies grow in their building culture competence. As a result, the quality of the built environment benefits from the Code for Building Culture that is now available."
The complete "Code forBuildingCulture" and documentation of the participation process can be found at on our website. It contains the following demands (abbreviated).
Attitude and Values:
- Holistic building culture
- Prudent action in new construction and portfolio development
- Appreciation of already existing building culture
Visions and goals:
- Use stocks
- go easy on resources
- Promoting diversity and mix
Processes and Means:
- life cycle assessment
- quality assurance
- Cooperative collaboration
Supporters of the Codex for Building Culture already include:
- Art Invest
- reason of value
- Landmarken AG
- COPRO Project Development GmbH
- PRIMUS developments GmbH
Source: PM of the Bundesstiftung Baukultur from 17.5.2021
Energiedienst receives production approval for hydrogen from green electricity
Domestic industry will be the first customer
Energiedienst's power-to-gas plant in Grenzach-Wyhlen is allowed to produce emission-free hydrogen from green electricity as of today. Photo: energiedienst.de
Grenzach-Wyhlen, December 5, 2019. Hydrogen production in Grenzach-Wyhlen in Baden-Württemberg (not far from Basel) can start. Energiedienst today received approval for the operation of the power-to-gas plant. All technical verifications and official clarifications have now been fulfilled.
In the state-of-the-art plant, Energiedienst produces hydrogen from self-generated green electricity using electrolysis. The electricity comes from the company's own hydroelectric power plant on the same site. The environmentally friendly hydrogen will initially be used in nearby industry. It is also planned to use it in local public transport. A comprehensive concept also envisages that the waste heat generated during electrolysis will be used to heat a new residential area. By linking electricity, mobility and heat supply in this way - keyword: sector coupling - the plant should help to reduce CO2 emissions and support the energy transition.
A year ago, Energiedienst officially inaugurated the power-to-gas plant together with the State Minister of Economics, Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut (CDU).
The plant has an output of one megawatt. In addition, there is 0.3 megawatts from an affiliated research facility of the ZSW (Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research). The state of Baden-Württemberg has funded this as part of a lighthouse project.
At the end of October, Energiedienst also submitted a concept for hydrogen for consideration in the "Reallabore der Energiewende" ideas competition run by the German Federal Ministry of Economics. The Federal Government attaches a key role to hydrogen, especially for the mobility of the future. The funding commitment from Berlin is still pending.
Company information
The Energiedienst Group is a German-Swiss public limited company with a regional and ecological focus. It generates green electricity from hydropower and sells electricity and gas. Its own grid companies supply customers with electricity. Another focus is on intelligently networked products and services for the decentralised renewable and digital energy world of the future, such as photovoltaic systems, heat pumps, electricity storage systems and e-car sharing.
The Energiedienst Group supplies over 270,000 customers with electricity. It employs just under 1,000 people, including around 50 trainees. The group includes Energiedienst Holding AG, Energiedienst AG, ED Netze GmbH, Messerschmid Energiesysteme GmbH, EnAlpin AG in Valais as well as Tritec AG and winsun AG. Energiedienst Holding AG is an associated company of EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG (Karlsruhe).
A study funded by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture determined the potential of hardwood as a substitute for coniferous wood. The results of the study are now available in a brochure published by the Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e. V. (FNR). There is considerable potential for hardwood to be used in industrial timber, but it cannot yet be a substitute for softwood in construction.
Already today, almost twice as much hardwood is provided in Germany as 20 years ago. Beech and oak are the dominant deciduous tree species with a share of 70 %. In wood use, there is considerable potential for using the accumulating hardwood industrial wood as a material. These potentials for low-priced wood assortments lie in particular in the production of wood-based materials such as chipboard or fibreboard. Higher-quality hardwood assortments are suitable, among other things, for windows and exterior doors, solid parquet flooring, interior fittings, solid wood panels and in exterior applications.
Potentials in wood-based materials and interior design
However, the study also makes clear that hardwood can only replace softwood to a limited extent. The timber industry with the key use of building with wood is dependent on softwood. The available hardwood cannot substitute softwood in comparable quantities for technical and economic reasons. The large number of species in hardwood with their widely differing properties makes standardisation difficult. Moreover, processing is usually technically more complex and causes higher costs.
More courage and innovation needed
In order to further develop the potential of hardwood use, the authors recommend, among other things, that companies be more courageous and innovative in establishing and expanding manufacturing processes specialized in hardwood use. In addition, sales-promoting industry communication and marketing for domestic hardwood are crucial for buyer behaviour.
The brochure "Hardwood product markets from a technical-economic and market structure perspective" is available in the Media Libraryavailable.
Background:
A conversion of forests towards more deciduous forests has been taking place in Germany since the 1990s. In particular, beech and oak trees are being planted in the spruce or pine forests. This is intended to make the forests not only more natural but also more stable against external influences such as storms and drought as well as climate change. As a result of the forest conversion, more hardwood will be available as a renewable raw material in the future.
The brochure is based on the BMEL-funded research project "Market potentials of hardwood products from a technical-economic and market-structural point of view - hardwood product markets" by PD Dr. Marcus Knauf, Bielefeld, with the assistance of Prof. Dr. Arno Frühwald, Reinbek.
The research project identified market potentials for products made of hardwood. Product areas in which hardwood is competitive with softwood or can complement softwood were analysed. The analyses were based on official statistics, published market studies, literature, the authors' own experience and interviews with experts. The final report is available at fnr.de under the funding code 22023214 available.
The FNR has been active as a project management agency of the BMEL for the funding programme Renewable Resources since 1993. It also supports research topics in the fields of sustainable forestry and innovative wood use.
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