93 climate protection settlements for 17,000 people in NRW

Düsseldorf. In North Rhine-Westphalia, an approach was developed in close cooperation between the state government and the EnergyAgency.NRW with the project "100 Climate Protection Housing Estates in NRW", which aims to reduce energy consumption and CO₂-emissions from residential buildings. So far, 93 settlement concepts with a total of around 7,000 flats and houses for 17,000 people have been awarded the status of "Climate Protection Settlement NRW" by a commission of experts.

In the 42 climate protection settlements already completed, energy efficiency and the use of renewable energies are combined in an exemplary manner and innovative solutions are demonstrated for both new construction and the renovation of existing buildings. Around 6,500 citizens already live in a climate protection settlement in the most populous federal state.

"North Rhine-Westphalia has developed into a very important location in the field of sustainable construction and housing. The project of 100 climate protection housing estates is attracting great interest throughout Europe and shows that with consistent and sustainable planning, affordable projects of energy-efficient construction or renovation can also be implemented. The settlements range from rental housing in apartment buildings to owner-occupied homes and senior housing complexes," says Andreas Gries, the responsible thematic area manager at EnergyAgency.NRW.

All 93 NRW locations on the internet:
www.energieagentur.nrw/klimaschutzsiedlungen

Keywords: Quarters, Settlements

The limit is 1000 euros/kWh

In the last twelve months, the costs for storage batteries for PV systems have fallen by an average of more than 10 %. "In the first quarter of 2017, they were in some cases only around 1150 euros per kWh of storage capacity," says Carsten Tschamber from Solar Cluster. The limit below which the small storage systems bring in more than they cost when used for 20 years is around 1000 euros, assuming a small increase in electricity prices. If you subtract the KfW subsidy, which decreases every six months, the first storage products already reach economic viability with good planning. By the end of the subsidy in 2018, the batteries could become up to 20 % cheaper - a purchase would then be worthwhile for the consumer even without government subsidies.

The cost of solar electricity from new PV systems on residential buildings has now fallen to as low as 8 Ct/kWh - household customers pay more than three times that for grid electricity. That is why it is worthwhile for them to consume as much of it as possible themselves. Solar batteries help to double self-consumption from 30 to 35 to up to 70 %.

Source: Post from 23.5.2017 on www.geb-info.de (no longer online, as of January 2021)

Published 27 March 2019

Berlin Timber Construction Offensive

Unanimously, on March 21, 2019, members of Berlin's state parliament voted in favor of promoting urban timber construction.

Following in the footsteps of Baden-Württemberg, the state of Berlin has now also decided to focus on wooden buildings in the future with its application "Sustainability in construction: Berlin builds with wood". As part of the Berlin Energy and Climate Protection Programme (BEK), wood as a building material is to be used to a much greater extent from now on and, as a carbon dioxide reservoir, is to make a contribution to climate protection and resource efficiency.

As the largest builder in the city-state, the Berlin Senate is to lead the way in the future and increasingly use wood in state buildings such as schools, kindergartens and residential buildings. In addition, subsidy programs such as those in Baden-Württemberg, Hamburg and Munich should create incentives for private builders. A timber construction cluster is to develop and bundle competencies along the value chain in the long term.

Since April 2018, an amendment to Berlin's state building code has facilitated timber construction for private and public buildings. Load-bearing components of multi-storey buildings can now be made of the natural material without the need for a time-consuming case-by-case assessment.

For new buildings and complete modernisation projects, Berlin will in future apply the Sustainable Building Rating System (NBB) with its defined, transparent standards for sustainability.

Source: DeSH-PM from 25.03.2019
https://informationsdienst-holz.de/…berlin-will-mit-holz-bauen

Further information:
Adopted resolution on:
www.parlament-berlin.de in PDF format

Keywords:
Stakeholders, Building materials / Construction, DE-News, Wood construction, Climate protection, Communities, News Blog Berlin, Environmental policy, Ecology