Berlin public utilities exceed the solar 10 MW threshold
Published
Eight hectares of modules built on Berlin's roofs, almost half of them on residential buildings
Berlin's municipal utility is clearly picking up the pace in the expansion of solar installations in the capital. The municipal green electricity producer exceeded the 10 megawatt threshold at the end of September.
Since the commissioning of their first solar plant on a GESOBAU house on Rolandstraße in Pankow, the output installed by the municipal utility has thus increased exactly a hundredfold. Behind the 10 megawatts peak (MWp) built, which corresponds to around one tenth of all solar power installed in Berlin from large to single-family homes, are more than 150 individual systems.
Around 4.3 MWp of the 10 MWp were erected for tenant electricity systems with housing associations and cooperatives as well as homeowners' associations. In these projects, tenants or owners can obtain the electricity generated on their own roofs directly and particularly cost-effectively and thus contribute to the energy transition themselves. Around 5.7 MWp have been installed on state-owned properties - schools, sports halls, administrative and cultural buildings, prisons and fire and police stations.
All of the plants constructed by Berliner Stadtwerke have a combined module area of 80,000 m² or 8 hectares, which is equivalent to a good eleven football pitches. The plants completed to date save the atmosphere around 4,900 tonnes of CO2. By the end of the year, Berliner Stadtwerke plans to install a further 2 MWp of connected solar capacity.
According to a recent survey of Germany's 700 largest cities and municipalities, only 6 percent of municipalities feel overwhelmed by the current refugee numbers.
The carbon footprint calculator developed by the ifeu Institute in Heidelberg can be used to calculate the greenhouse gas emissions of food. The website also provides tips and advice on how to become a "climatarian", i.e. how to adopt a climate-friendly diet. The CO2 foodprint is calculated. This is the proportion of one's CO2 emissions that result from eating.
Short info: "How will our cities develop? And who actually determines this - the city administration alone or also the citizens? In three European metropolises the reportage City of the Future - Future of the City looks for answers: In London we get to know the concept of the city as a profit-oriented enterprise that has to prove itself in global competition with other metropolises. In Hamburg, we follow the transformation of a problem neighbourhood as part of the IBA 2013, while the residents of a small, still original artists' quarter create their own living space. In Madrid, the problems of a constantly growing city are becoming concrete: an illegally built district has emerged just 20 kilometres from the city centre, which the residents manage independently. The area has become economically interesting for the city of Madrid in recent years. So the authorities have houses demolished - leaving families on the street. But there is resistance."
Running time: 45 min.
Year of production: 2013
Media type: DVD
Language version: de, en
The discussion about climate change and the growing demand for living space have increasingly brought timber construction into the focus of planners, architects and developers over the past year. After all, sustainable timber construction can make a significant contribution to climate protection and the creation of living space. The increased interest in timber construction is also reflected in the industry figures: the turnover of companies grew by 7 percent in 2019 compared to the previous year, the number of employees increased from around 68,000 to around 70,000 and the timber construction rate continued to grow in both residential (new construction) and non-residential (new construction) construction.
Holzbau Deutschland has published these and other facts, figures and forecasts on the structure of the sector, market and economic trends, the business situation and financing, as well as training and careers in the carpentry and timber construction trades in its "Situation Report Carpenters / Timber Construction 2020" published. It can be downloaded free of charge from the Association's website in the Business Administration section.
Even after Corona: Continue to drive forward climate protection
At the conclusion of the 11th Petersberg Climate Dialogue last week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel appealed that in the period after the Corona crisis, "when we launch economic stimulus packages, we should always keep climate protection firmly in mind and make it clear that we are not cutting back on climate protection, but investing in technologies that are fit for the future."
Timber construction has long been one of the sustainable technologies that can make an essential contribution to achieving climate protection goals. "Ecological, sustainable and resource-saving construction with wood must therefore continue to be the focus in residential construction as well as in redensification and gap filling in existing buildings. In order for timber construction to be recognized as an alternative on an equal footing with other construction methods, the framework conditions must be further improved and the building codes of the federal states must be adapted to the current state of the art," demanded Peter Aicher, Chairman of Holzbau Deutschland.
The current and further development in timber construction
Until the outbreak of the Corona pandemic, the mood in the timber construction industry was good. The satisfaction of carpentry and timber construction companies is also reflected in the Holzbau Deutschland business survey, in which almost 370 companies took part at the turn of the year 2019/2020. Their order backlog at the beginning of the year already averaged 17 weeks (previous year 15 weeks). The current exceptional situation in the wake of the Corona pandemic has not changed this much: According to recent surveys, most businesses are going about their work without any significant restrictions and in compliance with clearance and hygiene rules. Builders are also sticking to their construction projects. Many timber construction companies are currently benefiting from the existing high order backlog. For some of them, the workload will last until next year.
How turnover in timber construction will develop in 2020 and beyond, and what impact the Corona pandemic will have, cannot be reliably assessed at the present time. Regardless of the current situation, the timber construction industry has assumed a further 5 percent increase in sales by the beginning of March. The value is also based on the cautious confidence of the entrepreneurs from the economic survey of Holzbau Deutschland.
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