Block architecture: Monotonous new buildings

Published 27 April 2017

"Why do the same dreary apartment blocks have to be built everywhere?" asks F.A.Z. economics writer Nadine Oberhuber in Your post from 26.04.2017. She thinks "unambitious" is still the most harmless word of the viewers for the block architecture". As the main cause she quotes her F.A.Z. colleague and architecture critic Niklas Maak who observes a "radical economization of building", similar to the Bundesstiftung Baukultur.

Even the sustainable settlements cannot escape this pressure for returns and are becoming increasingly unimaginative, as I have unfortunately noticed in my observations over the last 20 years. "It's not pretty", as Gerhard Matzig puts it in his Contribution from 16.4. using the example of Munich's housing construction.

Keywords: Aesthetics / Architecture / Building Culture

Video (2012) Wassergestaltung der Wohnsiedlung „Arkadien Winnenden“

Published 8. May 2012

Video (2012) Water design of the "Arcadia Winnenden" housing estate

1:43 min., 2012, Video by Ramboll Studio Dreiseitl

Project Info: http://sdg21.eu/db/arkadien-winnenden
Show building projects by Joachim Eble / EMP: http://sdg21.eu/planungsbueros/emp

Keywords:
Greening / climate adaptation, DE-News, Movies, Movies < 4 Min, Wood construction, Near-natural open space design, News Blog Baden-Württemberg, Participation, Settlements

Published 21 June 2022

What is the maximum amount of CO2 that Germany can still emit? Environment Council updates CO2 budget

15.06.2022

Is German climate policy on the right path? A national CO₂-budget for Germany allows for a transparent comparison with international targets. In a paper published today, the Environmental Council updates its calculations for a German CO₂-The paper also provides answers to frequently asked questions about the carbon budget and shows that rapid emission reductions are crucial - last year, climate targets were again missed in transport and buildings. The paper also answers frequently asked questions about the CO₂-Budget.

"Germany must become independent of all fossil fuels, not just those from Russia," says Prof. Wolfgang Lucht. "The remaining CO₂-The energy budget is melting rapidly. This is above all a consequence of the recently delayed energy transition in Germany. The German government should now adopt measures for the industrial and private sectors with even more vigour that will put us on a path that is demonstrably in line with the Paris climate targets." The SRU therefore recommends that the Federal Government introduce a German CO₂-The budget should be clearly named and justified in order to create transparency.

For a fair and appropriate German contribution to the international climate goals, a maximum CO₂-budget of 6.1 Gt CO₂to limit global warming to 1.75 degrees (with 67 % probability). For the 1.5 degree target (50 % probability), Germany would have to reduce its emissions to a maximum of 3.1 Gt CO₂ limit. By "maximum", the SRU means a budget that can just be considered compatible with the Paris Agreement. If emissions were to be reduced linearly to zero from now on, Germany would have to reduce CO₂-neutral.

"Germany must now take off on climate protection," says Prof. Claudia Kemfert. "If we miss the targets and overrun the budget, we will not be able to make up for it later.

In its landmark decision of March 2021, the Federal Constitutional Court used the budget calculated by the SRU to examine whether the Climate Protection Act meets the constitutional requirements.

Download the publication "How much CO₂ is the maximum amount that Germany is still allowed to emit? Questions and answers on CO₂-Budget“.

In May 2020, the Council had already Calculations and recommendations to a CO₂-Budget published.

For further information, please contact Dr. Julia Hertin, Tel: +49 30 263696-118,
Email: julia.hertin@umweltrat.de

The German Advisory Council on the Environment (SRU) has been advising the German government on environmental policy issues for 50 years. The Council's composition of seven professors from different disciplines ensures a scientifically independent and comprehensive assessment, both from a scientific-technical and a social science perspective.

The Council currently consists of the following members:

Prof. Dr Claudia Hornberg (Chair), Bielefeld University

Prof. Dr Claudia Kemfert (Deputy Chair), Leuphana University Lüneburg and German Institute for Economic Research Berlin

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christina Dornack, Dresden University of Technology

Prof. Dr Wolfgang Köck, University of Leipzig and Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ

Prof. Dr Wolfgang Lucht, Humboldt University Berlin and Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research

Prof. Dr Josef Settele, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ

Prof. Dr Annette Elisabeth Töller, Open University in Hagen

German Advisory Council on the Environment, Berlin
www.umweltrat.de

Keywords:
DE-News, Renewable, Climate protection, New books and studies, Environmental policy

Published 16 July 2019

Foresters declare climate emergency for forest

Foresters, forest owners and nature lovers are very concerned about what has been happening in our forests since the beginning of 2018: Initially snow breakage and winter storms and the subsequent drought and bark beetle infestation have led to dramatic tree dieback. And there is no end in sight! The forest has been under extreme climate stress for almost two years and foresters are in permanent disaster mode. Well over 100 million old trees have already died. In addition, several million young plants have dried up. These have been planted in recent years to make the forest even more diverse and stable. But natural regeneration is also affected. The Association of German Foresters is calling for all efforts at federal and state level to be stepped up and pooled immediately. The BDF proposes the "Carlowitz Plan" as a strategic package of measures. Its measures are intended to preserve the forest in all its functions and as an important system-relevant basis of life and heritage for us humans!

In addition to the spruce tree species, which has so far mainly suffered from the drought, the beech, the most important deciduous tree species and "mother of the forest" in our forests, is now apparently also showing clear and region-wide signs of dying out. "This is particularly dramatic! In recent decades, we foresters have mainly relied on copper beech, our natural main tree species, for the necessary forest reorganisation towards climate-stable forests," says BDF Federal Chairman Ulrich Dohle. In addition, two important tree species have already been virtually lost in many forests due to fungal diseases of elm and ash. A similar trend is emerging for the maple tree species. With corresponding negative consequences for biodiversity and forestry options for the future.

"While we foresters have been busy for almost two years repairing the damage that has occurred so far - and there is no end in sight - the important future task of developing the forests in a climate-stable way is often falling by the wayside. There are simply too few of us to keep on top of the situation," says Dohle, drawing attention to the massive reduction in forestry staff over the past twenty years, during which around 50% of forestry employees have been cut.

A few days ago, Federal Forest Minister Julia Klöckner took up the results of the ETH Zurich study and announced a massive reforestation programme. The BDF is calling for this announcement to be translated into concrete government action in the near future. To this end, the necessary financial and human resources must be made available.

"The common good and services of general interest, especially in public forests, must once again take centre stage," says Dohle, specifying the demands. "The strong commercial orientation of the past two decades was a political mistake that must now be corrected as quickly as possible!" Bavaria has already initiated this paradigm shift for its state forest. Other federal states must now follow suit!

Forests are not only victims of climate change, they are also urgently needed to mitigate climate change. As a living reservoir of solar energy, it is a significant CO2 sink.

The handling of the forest dieback in the 1980s showed that responsible and targeted environmental policy can help to avert predicted damage. Although the causes and effects in the current climate debate are much more complex, we can certainly learn from the past.

The Association of German Foresters is therefore calling for the convening of a National Forest Summit at this time of climate emergency for the forest! The BDF is currently developing the "Carlowitz Plan" as the basis for a social discourse on the forest by politicians, experts and groups interested in the forest. The plan bears the name of Hans Carl von Carlowitz (1713), who first coined the term sustainability in forestry. Since then, sustainability has been the defining characteristic of all forestry activities!

Ulrich Dohle summarises it as follows: "These are no longer individual unusual weather events. This is climate change. I have therefore declared a climate emergency for forests today. Every effort must be made to preserve our forests as the formative green third of our country and a systemically relevant basis of life! This is the only way we can fulfil the principle of sustainability!"

Source: Press release from the BDF - Association of German Foresters dated 15 July 2019

Keywords:
Stakeholders, DE-News, Wood construction, NaWaRohs, Environmental policy, Ecology

Published 9 March 2017

Visions for the Future: Shaping Urban Neighborhoods Participatively and Sustainably

How can cities develop sustainably? How do they limit traffic, reduce pollutants and make attractive use of urban spaces, how do they create affordable attractive housing for all? These and other questions are at the centre of a project just launched by the Öko-Institut in cooperation with the Institute for Regional and Urban Development Research (ILS, Dortmund), the German Institute of Urban Affairs (difu, Berlin) and the City of Darmstadt, which has the working title "Transformative Strategies for Integrated Neighbourhood Development - TRASIQ".

Visions for the Future: Shaping Urban Neighborhoods Participatively and Sustainably

How can cities develop sustainably? How can they limit traffic, reduce pollution and make attractive use of urban space - in short, be liveable for their inhabitants? How can they meet the needs of an ageing population and the influx of younger people in equal measure, and how can they create affordable, attractive housing for all? What role do possible conflicts between ecology - more forest - and economy - more living space - play and how can they be resolved? These and other questions are at the centre of a project just launched by the Öko-Institut in cooperation with the Institute for Regional and Urban Development Research (ILS, Dortmund), the German Institute of Urban Affairs (difu, Berlin) and the City of Darmstadt, which has the working title "Transformative Strategies for Integrated Neighbourhood Development - TRASIQ".

In the two cities of Darmstadt and Griesheim, the project partners discuss sustainability requirements together with planners - for example with a view to limited budgets - and develop concepts and strategies for liveable neighbourhoods. How exactly such visionary ideas could be implemented is then to be co-developed by the future residents. team ewen and the Schader Foundation support the project in communicating and shaping the dialogue. The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

Darmstadt and Griesheim - testing sustainable neighbourhoods

Darmstadt is one of the so-called "swarm cities" - that is, one of the 18 municipalities in Germany where the age group of 20 to 35-year-olds is concentrated far above average. The city has been growing continuously since 1997, currently at a rate of around 2,000 people per year. In this context, Darmstadt set itself targets for sustainable urban development early on and wants to test new settlement concepts in pilot projects such as on the site of the former Cambrai-Fritsch barracks.

"Precisely because we are a city of science, we rely on the dialogue between research and practice in urban development. We are particularly pleased to be cooperating with the Öko-Institut within the framework of TRASIQ, which is one of the most important players in the field of Green Smart City in Darmstadt's scientific landscape," explains Lord Mayor Jochen Partsch.

"Conflicts arise in the conception of an ecologically, socially and economically sustainable urban area - for example, in high-quality, energy-saving construction that nevertheless has to remain affordable," says Dr Dietlinde Quack, one of the two project leaders of the transdisciplinary project at the Öko-Institut, explaining the challenge. "Discussing such conflicts in the municipalities with those politically responsible, the citizens and future investors and finding a fair way for as many parties as possible is our task for the next three years. In doing so, the exchange about common visions of the future of design will help us. If all stakeholders agree on this, we can then align ideas for the concretisation of the development areas with it."

Contact persons at the Öko-Institut

Dr Dietlinde Quack
Head of the Consumer and Society Group
in the area of products & material flows
Öko-Institut e.V., Freiburg Office
Phone: +49 761 45295-248
E-mail: d.quack(at)oeko.de

Dr Bettina Brohmann
Research Coordinator Transdisciplinary
Sustainability Science
Öko-Institut e.V., Darmstadt Office
Phone: +49 6151 8191-135
E-mail: b.brohmann(at)oeko.de

The Öko-Institut is one of Europe's leading independent research and advisory institutes for a sustainable future. Since its foundation in 1977, the Institute has been developing principles and strategies on how the vision of sustainable development can be implemented globally, nationally and locally. The Institute has offices in Freiburg, Darmstadt and Berlin.

More info: http://www.trasiq.de/

Keywords:
News Blog Hesse, Participation, Quarters, Settlements