Explained in just under 10 min. The video is from April 2019 and shows two larger aquaponics facilities in Berlin.
Keywords: DE-News, Movies, Movies 4 to 10 Min, Sustainable management, News Blog Berlin, Transition Town, Urban production
Explained in just under 10 min. The video is from April 2019 and shows two larger aquaponics facilities in Berlin.
Mainz, March 12, 2019 Air pollution is clearly underestimated as a health hazard, even though there is currently a heated discussion about nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and diesel driving bans. A team of scientists led by Jos Lelieveld, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, and Thomas Münzel, Professor at the University Medical Center Mainz, has now determined that air pollution reduces the average life expectancy of Europeans by around 2 years. Worldwide, about 120 people per 100,000 inhabitants die prematurely each year as a result of polluted air, according to the study, and in Europe as many as 133, which is higher than the global average. In at least half of the cases, cardiovascular diseases are the cause of death.
Bad air, especially air polluted with particulate matter, leads to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and apparently poses a greater health risk than previously assumed. With their study, which is published in the current issue of the European Heart Journal, the Mainz researchers updated recent calculations of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD), a worldwide health study, and also results of their own earlier investigations: Until recently, they assumed a global mortality rate due to air pollution of around 4.5 million people per year. The newly calculated figure is 8.8 million per year. In Europe alone, almost 800,000 people die prematurely each year as a result of air pollution.
The update of the calculations became necessary because a recently published study puts the disease-specific hazard rates significantly higher than the values of the GBD. "Since the GBD study takes into account 41 comprehensive case group studies from 16 countries, including China, it provides the best data basis currently available," says Jos Lelieveld, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry.
Polluted outdoor air claims more victims than smoking
According to the recalculation by the Mainz researchers, bad air thus joins the list of the most significant health risks such as high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and smoking. By way of comparison, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates the mortality rate from tobacco smoke at 7.2 million people per year - including passive smoking. Thus, polluted outdoor air is a similarly large risk factor. However, smoking is individually preventable, whereas air pollution is not.
The researchers emphasize that fine dust particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter (PM2.5) are the main cause of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, which explains the high mortality rates attributed to bad air. "Our results show that the European limit value for particulate matter, which is 25 micrograms per cubic meter of air for the annual average, is far too high," said Thomas Münzel, director of the Center for Cardiology at the University Medical Center Mainz. The value is far above the WHO guideline of 10 micrograms per cubic meter.
For their calculations, the scientists from Mainz first determined the regional exposure to pollutants such as particulate matter and ozone using an established, data-based atmospheric chemistry model. They linked these exposure values with disease-specific hazard rates from epidemiological data, as well as population density and causes of death in individual countries.
Fine dust pollution should be reduced
"Our results show a much higher disease burden from air pollution than previously thought," says Münzel, who is also the initiator of the Mainz Heart Foundation. "Air pollution must be recognized as an important cardiovascular risk factor, as it causes additional damage in the body through diabetes, high blood pressure and high levels of cholersterol . Now it has become even more urgent to further reduce exposure to particulate matter and to adjust limit values. In addition, particulate matter needs to be given greater prominence in the European Society of Cardiology guidelines as a causative factor in cardiovascular disease."
Replacing fossil fuels with clean energy sources can cut mortality rates by more than half
Since much of the particulate matter and other air pollutants come from burning fossil fuels, the scientists advocate replacing fossil fuels for energy production. "If we use clean, renewable energy, we not only meet the agreements made in Paris to mitigate the effects of climate change," says Jos Lelieveld, who is also a professor at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz and the Cyprus Institute in Nicosia. "We can also use it to reduce the mortality rate in Europe caused by air pollution by up to 55 percent."
1 Age-dependent health risk from ambient air pollution: a modelling study of childhood mortality in middle and low-income countries
Jos Lelieveld, Andy Haines, Andrea Pozzer; The Lancet Planetary Health, 2 July 2018; pre-publication 29 June 2018.
2 Global estimates of mortality associated with long-term exposure to outdoor fine particulate matter
Burnett et al: Proceedings of the National Academy U S A. 115(38):9592-9597, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1803222115, 2018
3 Effects of gaseous and solid constituents of air pollution on endothelial function.
Munzel T, Gori T, Al-Kindi S, Deanfield J, Lelieveld J, Daiber A, Rajagopalan S. Eur Heart J 2018;39(38):3543-3550.
Original publication
Cardiovascular disease burden from ambient air pollution in Europe reassessed using novel hazard ratio functions.
J. Lelieveld, K. Klingmüller, A. Pozzer, U. Pöschl, M. Fnais, A. Daiber and T. Münzel
European Heart Journal (2019), 00, 1-7
DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehz135
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Stakeholders, Mobility, News Blog Europe (without DE), Environmental policy
12:45 Date: 05/26/2016
Project Info: http://sdg21.eu/db/8-house-von-big-in-kopenhagen-dk
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Movies, Movies 11 to 45 Min, Media, News Blog Denmark, Mix of uses, Quarters, Housing, Residential, Aesthetics / Architecture / Building Culture
Classic building material in a flexible system
Wood is considered a visually and haptically appealing material, it is sustainable, renewable and usually readily available. However, the fact that timber is also almost entirely suitable for use in multi-storey building construction is new and requires a creative approach to the previously practised construction method. Modern timber construction" is moving away from traditional categorisations such as timber frame construction, timber frame construction etc. and allows a mixture of different construction methods to be used within a project as required. This opens up completely new possibilities for timber construction architecture.
The focus of this publication is therefore on multi-storey timber construction. This atlas provides architects, engineers and timber specialists with the essential specialist knowledge on the new system and construction methodology, from design and prefabrication to on-site joining. It creates mutual understanding among all project participants for the necessary cooperation in the integral planning and construction process and provides the necessary technical expertise to convincingly represent modern timber construction.
- Construction and design methodology in multi-storey timber construction
- New system for timber and timber hybrid construction
- Elements, layer structure, tectonics
- Prefabrication and joining
- Detailed project example section with individual documentation
Authors: Hermann Kaufmann, Stefan Krötsch, Stefan Winter
Published: on 30 June 2017
280 pages with numerous photos and drawings in DETAIL style
Format 23 x 29.7 cm
Hardcover
ISBN 978-3-95553-353-3
Order at buecher.de
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DE-News, Wood construction, New books and studies
It was only on 16 March 2022 that the Federal Cabinet approved the 2022 budget, the key figures until 2026 and thus also the record sum of 14.5 billion euros for social housing construction until 2026. On 18 March 2022, Federal Minister for Building Klara Geywitz signed the administrative agreement on climate-friendly social housing in the programme year 2022. This must now be countersigned by the Länder.
Federal Minister for Building Geywitz: "The creation of affordable housing is a task for the entire state. That is why the federal government supports the Länder with substantial funds."
For their part, the Länder undertake to provide Land funds amounting to at least 30 per cent of the federal funds used.
Federal Minister for Building Geywitz emphasises: "With the signing of the administrative agreement on climate-friendly social housing, the necessary foundations for the promotion of social housing in the 2022 programme year are now fully in place. Immediately after the entry into force of the 2022 federal budget, the Länder can dispose of the funds in the amount of 2 billion euros and issue approvals by the end of next year."
The administrative agreement that has now been signed regulates the use of federal financial assistance amounting to 1 billion euros, which the federal government grants to the Länder in implementation of the 2022 Emergency Climate Protection Programme adopted on 23 June 2021 for the energy-efficient construction of new buildings and the energy-efficient refurbishment of social housing. This means that the efficiency house standard 55 must be complied with for new construction and the efficiency house standard 85 for modernisations.
The administrative agreement supplements the administrative agreement on classic social housing already signed by Construction Minister Geywitz in December 2022. Here, in contrast to climate-friendly social housing, no energy requirements are imposed that go beyond the regulatory law. Federal funding of 1 billion euros is also available for classic social housing in the 2022 programme year.
For the programme year 2023, 2.5 billion euros are earmarked for social housing in the Federal Government's decision on the benchmark. The funds will increase to 3 billion euros in the programme year 2024. For the programme years 2025 and 2026, 3.5 billion euros are earmarked in each case.
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DE-News, Funding, Housing policy