Clarification on the handling of insulation waste containing HBCD
Published
Rhineland-Palatinate advises insulation with renewables
In recent weeks, there has been much discussion about the disposal of old EPS-based insulation boards containing the flame retardant HBCD. The new Waste Catalogue Ordinance requires separate disposal. This goes beyond the corresponding EU regulation, which only requires HBCD to be removed from the material cycle. This would also be possible, as has been the case up to now, by incineration at high temperatures together with other waste. The obligation to provide special treatment resulted in bottlenecks at the landfills, which Federal states now react with special regulationswhich clarify how to proceed with the waste. Current waste from construction sites is not affected, and new ETICS based on EPS must no longer contain HBCD anyway.
The Federal City of Bonn was awarded the "StadtGrün naturnah" label on Thursday, 19 September 2019. With this award, the alliance "Municipalities for Biodiversity" honours exemplary commitment on urban green spaces to promote biodiversity. Bonn was able to score points in the labelling process with species-rich wildflower meadows, sustainable forest management and innovative environmental education offers and is now one of the few large cities certified with the silver label for more nature in the city.
The awarding of the label took place during the "StadtGrün naturnah" conference in Bonn, where around 100 participants from municipalities and authorities learned about the activities of the award-winning municipalities and exchanged views on the scope for action for more diversity in municipal green spaces. Dieter Fuchs, Head of the Office for Urban Greening of the City of Bonn, accepted the award together with his staff.
"Already today, near-natural, species-rich green spaces characterise Bonn's cityscape. The labelling process supports us on our way to further strengthen ecological green space management," says Fuchs. "Especially in large cities with growing populations like Bonn, it is important to continue to give nature space in the city. In the labelling process, intensive cooperation has been established with local partners who are committed to biodiversity. Together we want to inspire citizens for more nature in the city and invite everyone to contribute in their own way."
In the multi-stage labelling process, the participating municipalities were closely accompanied by the project office "StadtGrün naturnah" for one year. Together they analysed how the urban green spaces could be further ecologically upgraded and which strengths and potentials already distinguish the city. A local working group, in which representatives of the city, the Biological Station, nature conservation associations, the University of Bonn and the Vebowag are represented, accompanied the process.
Longstanding commitment to biodiversity
The city of Bonn has been committed to more biodiversity in the city since 1993 with the Bonn Meadow Programme. Today, there are meadows on around 63 hectares in the city area where bees, bumblebees, butterflies and other insects cavort. Species-rich perennial beds have been planted along paths and streets, for example at the Windeckbunker and on the banks of the Rhine below the Beethovenhalle. At Bonn's South Cemetery, 5,000 square metres of unused lawns were transformed into brightly coloured flowering areas. In the future, species-rich meadows will also be created on unused areas at other cemeteries in Bonn.
In the city forest, the city promotes and protects insects, birds and many other animals and plants by leaving over twelve percent of the forest area to natural development. The Bonn city forest has been certified since 1999 according to the strict criteria of the Naturland Association for ecological and sustainable management. For example, the employees of the Bonn city forestry do not clear-cut or use pesticides and fertilisers.
Since its reopening in summer 2019, the Haus der Natur has been the central starting point for environmental education programmes in Bonn. The programme of workshops and guided tours will be significantly expanded and specified in the future. In connection with the farmer's garden, the path of biodiversity, a meadow orchard and the adjacent Kottenforst, it offers numerous opportunities to observe, discover and experience nature.
Bonn citizens who would like to support biodiversity in their city will find a variety of opportunities, for example as a sponsor for a green space or as a flowering ambassador for the "Bonn blossoms and hums" initiative. There is also the possibility of leasing urban areas for urban gardening.
Further information on ecological green space management and the labelling process in Bonn is available at www.bonn.de/stadtgruen-naturnah.
About the "StadtGrün naturnah" label
The "StadtGrün naturnah" label was developed jointly by the Alliance of Municipalities for Biological Diversity and the German Environmental Aid (DUH). The award is part of the project "City Green - Species-Rich and Diverse", which is funded by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation with funds from the Federal Ministry for the Environment from 2016 to 2021 as part of the Federal Programme on Biological Diversity. In the first public tender, 14 municipalities were awarded the label. The label is valid for the period 2019 to 2022 and can be renewed after three years through recertification.
Dr. Kirsten David, a researcher at HafenCity University (HCU) Hamburg, has developed an innovative method for determining rent increases after energy efficiency measures: By means of functional cost splitting, rent increases become appropriate and comprehensible. The planning of the energetic measures is also ecologically optimized. For her dissertation entitled "Functional Cost Splitting for the Determination of Rent Increases after Energy Efficiency Measures", the scientist today receives the "BUND Research Award 2020". With the research award, the Bund für Umwelt- und Naturschutz (BUND) honors scientific work on sustainable development.
Rent increases due to energy-efficient building modernisation are legally permissible and politically desired as an investment incentive. After all, according to the German Energy Agency (dena), around 35% of Germany's total energy consumption is attributable to the building sector. An increase in the renovation rate is therefore necessary from a climate policy perspective.
However, while the legislators assume that such measures can be implemented economically and without affecting the rent, the experience of many tenants is different: Often the rent increases exceed the saved heating and energy costs many times over. In extreme cases, tenants can no longer afford their apartments. "To this day, energy-efficient building refurbishment has a reputation as a gentrification tool," says David. With the method she developed to determine appropriate rent increases, the 45-year-old scientist also wants to contribute to an increased social acceptance of corresponding measures.
"The basis of the politically expected increase amounts is the so-called coupling principle," explains the architect. "Like the Energy Saving Ordinance, it assumes that energy efficiency measures will always be implemented when a comprehensive refurbishment is due anyway. The sticking point: only the modernization costs entitle landlords* to rent increases, but not the costs for the renovation. The latter must be deducted from the total investment sum as "anyway costs". Eight percent of the remaining costs can be passed on to the tenants as a modernisation charge.
"The current regulation is insufficient. In practice, there are manifold demarcation problems between modernisation costs relevant to rent increases and maintenance costs not relevant to rent increases," says David. The method she developed, on the other hand, focuses on the climate-relevant improvement of each individual building component compared to its condition before the construction measure. "Functional cost splitting thus corresponds to the actual basic idea of the legislators, is practicable and enables an appropriate and comprehensible allocation to modernisation or refurbishment costs," says David.
According to the scientist, her approach leads to the omission of measures that are nonsensical from a structural engineering point of view and do not bring about any climate-relevant improvement of the building components: "With my method, such measures are not relevant for rent increases and are therefore uneconomical for landlords. In addition, your calculation method ensures that the modernization levy actually approaches the level of the ancillary cost savings as a rule. The award winner is therefore particularly pleased that the sustainability aspect of her work has been recognised with the BUND Research Award: "Rental housing stock can only be developed sustainably if ecological, economic and social aspects are given equal consideration. Functional cost splitting makes a significant contribution to this."
This year, the BUND Research Award will be presented at a virtual conference. Among other things, keynote speaker and environmental scientist Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker will discuss with the three award winners how science can develop more relevance and effectiveness for sustainability goals. The transfer into practice is also an important concern for David. Her next goal is to further develop functional cost splitting into an instrument that can also be understood by laypersons - preferably as an online tool.
Personal details:
Kirsten David is a guest researcher at HCU in the subject areas "Design and Analysis of Structures" with Prof. Dr.-Ing. Annette Bögle and "Construction Economics" with Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Reinhold Johrendt as well as a lecturer in the interdisciplinary study programmes. Her doctoral thesis was supervised by Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Reinhold Johrendt and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Krüger, (subject area "Project Management and Project Development in Urban Planning") and is freely available: https://edoc.sub.uni-hamburg.de//hcu/volltexte/2019/508/.
Rents in Munich have risen by 70 per cent in the past 22 years - a development that is upsetting many Munich residents. What makes the state capital so expensive and how long-time residents and newcomers are suffering as a result.
Plan b broadcast, Seestadt Aspern from minute 15:30. video available until 1.6.2020:
No longer online; original link:
To the documentary website www.zdf.de/gesellschaft/plan-b/
The series plan b uses the example of the Urban Lakeside Aspern in Vienna to explain what a "circular economy" can look like in concrete terms. The Urban Lakeside is one of the largest urban development areas in Europe. By 2028, high-quality housing for more than 20,000 people and almost as many jobs will be built in several stages in the northeast of Vienna in the 22nd district. A sustainable urban district is to be created.
It is shown how the city's building pit material is partly used directly on site as raw material for the concrete of the new buildings. Architect Thomas Romm is currently developing guidelines for innovative, environmentally friendly and cost-effective construction together with Thomas Mosor.
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