Conference of Environment Ministers wants to promote timber construction

The 88th Conference of Environment Ministers has just passed a resolution in Bad Saarow on the "Promotion of Building with Wood", which was introduced by Rhineland-Palatinate. The document calls on the federal government to improve the framework conditions for timber construction. The German Timber Industry Council e. V. (DHWR) expressly welcomes this initiative.

According to the Rhineland-Palatinate Minister of the Environment, the positive climate protection properties of renewable raw materials are to be taken into account in building energy law, among other things.

This would be more than desirable, because the draft bill for the Building Energy Act (GEG) recently presented by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) missed the opportunity to finally take the entire life cycle of buildings into account in the amendment.

In the manufacturing, recycling and disposal process of certain building materials, a large amount of CO2 is released - often more than is consumed in the entire use. In terms of climate policy, it is therefore incomprehensible that this is neither taken into account in the draft Building Energy Act, nor in the energy balance of the building according to the Thermal Insulation Ordinance, nor in the preparation of the energy certificate.

"The Federal Government and the Länder have an equal role to play in sustainable management and the future-oriented use of resources. We see the current resolution of the Conference of Environment Ministers as an important step in the right direction - this should serve as a signpost for both the current and the future federal government."

Press release of the Ministry of Environment, Energy, Food and Forestry of Rhineland-Palatinate (May 5, 2017)
Press release of the DHWR on the building energy law (February 2, 2017)

Source PM Deutscher Holzwirtschaftsrat DHWR (5.5.2017):
www.dhwr.de/presse_pressemitteilungen.php?id=519

Keywords: Stakeholders, Greening / climate adaptation, DE-News, Wood construction, Climate protection, Environmental policy, Ecology

Funding programme progres.nrw extended

North Rhine-Westphalia has extended the progres.nrw programme until the end of 2016. The programme complements and expands existing programmes such as the market incentive programme or KfW funding.

Subsidies are available, among other things, for domestic ventilation systems/appliances with heat recovery and solar thermal systems. For the latter, however, only if they are not required anyway in order to comply with the Renewable Heat Act in new buildings.

In the case of PV, only so-called multiplier systems are eligible for funding. These include systems on ultra-low-energy or passive houses, particularly efficient technologies or façade-integrated PV. A subsidy is available for biomass systems if they are installed in conjunction with a solar thermal system. Subsidies are also available for highly efficient decentralised CHP systems for heat and power generation with an electrical output of up to 20 kW. Special energy storage systems and systems with an extraordinary degree of innovation or multiplier effect are also eligible for funding. This is decided on a case-by-case basis.

A grant is also available for residential buildings in the passive house standard including ventilation systems and for residential buildings in the 3-litre house standard including ventilation systems, as well as for studies on energy efficiency in which there is particular interest on the part of the state. The amount of the subsidies is flat-rate. For example, 4,700 euros are available for a passive house with a ventilation system.

In 2015, a total of more than 6,000 measures were funded under the programme. Applications for funding can be submitted by private individuals as well as small and medium-sized enterprises or municipalities. A total of 10 million euros is available for the programme in 2016. Source: progres.nrw / pgl