Fast and sustainable construction, extension and renovation with wood
As part of Expo Real 2019, experts from the timber construction industry came together for the kick-off event of the Holzbau München network. Organiser Andreas Lerge, Managing Director of Wood Real Estate, opened the evening and welcomed his guests with the topics of digitalisation and professionalisation in timber construction. Larger timber construction projects are currently still underrepresented in German cities, but the general demand for living space in Munich will increase by around 250,000 flats by 2025. Reason enough to make urban timber construction the standard through serial construction and industrial prefabrication. The advantages are obvious: systemised construction reduces construction costs, only a few skilled workers are needed on site to assemble prefabricated modules, construction time and noise and traffic pollution are reduced.
Wood is so stable that it can be used to build high-rise buildings and at the same time unrivalled in its lightness that it can be used to add storeys to existing buildings. Another contribution to active climate protection is refurbishment and modernisation with wood, a renewable resource that is more than sufficient. In total, 18 million tonnes of CO2 can be bound in Bavaria alone. Alexander Gumpp, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of proHolz Bayern, believes it is imperative that a life cycle assessment and compliance with emissions limits are a mandatory component of construction projects. An ecological model housing estate is currently being built in Munich: the Prince Eugene Park. An exemplary urban timber construction that creates plenty of living space for many generations. We are committed to a sustainable forestry and timber industry in Bavaria in order to realise more timber construction projects so that we can call Munich a "timber construction city" by 2030.
7:32 min., 2012, Trailer for the documentary about Frei Otto's eco-house in Berlin Tiergarten.
The documentary "Dreaming of a Treehouse" addresses the Ökohaus, an experimental collective housing project in Berlin,
conceived by the famous German architect/engineer Frei Otto.
Interviews with Frei Otto, Christine Kanstinger-Otto, Hermann Kendel, co-architects, planners as well as inhabitants and participatory builders. Commentary by architects Yona Friedman, Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal.
The whole film can be watched as streaming video in HD quality for a rental fee:
Duration: 1 hour 6 minutes
2011, German, French with English subtitles
21.01.2020 Everyone is talking about sustainability - including the construction industry. A prize that the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) and the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) have been organising since today provides the perfect talking point: With the new "Federal Environment and Building Prize", which will be awarded for the first time in 2020, the initiators want to recognise projects that are exemplary in terms of sustainability - not only in the classic areas of existing and new buildings, but also in five other categories. All players in the construction sector can apply. The closing date for entries is 15 April 2020 and the patron of the competition is the Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Svenja Schulze.
The desire of more and more building owners and planners to combine high utility value and architectural quality with Climate - and environmental protection has resulted in many exciting projects. They demonstrate by practical example that sustainable construction offers many advantages over the life cycle - also in terms of costs.
Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze: "This is precisely where the Federal Environment and Building Award comes in. On the one hand, the prize is intended to illustrate the spectrum of what is already structurally and technically possible today. On the other hand, it is intended to raise awareness of the outstanding examples through the award and thus invite imitation."
Professor Dirk Messner, President of the Federal Environment Agency: "It's about holistic solutions that incorporate the technology, the design of the building and its surroundings. Individual 'greenfield' projects are expressly not supported. In no other competition is the interplay between the environment and building assessed in such a way as in the Federal Environment & Building Award."
About the Federal AwardIn order to show the breadth of sustainable building, the Federal Award comprises the categories "Residential buildings", "Non-residential buildings", "Neighbourhoods" and "Sustainability and innovations". The first two categories focus in particular on the energy-efficient refurbishment of existing buildings, as this is where the greatest need for action exists from a climate protection perspective.
In addition to these competition categories, the BMU and UBA also award three special prizes for particularly innovative approaches. Under the headings "Resilience" and "Sufficiency", the focus is on adaptation to climate change and strategies for reducing the use of resources. Building projects that take particular account of aspects of biodiversity and thus make a substantial contribution to the protection and implementation of "urban nature" are also to be honoured. The third field "Building envelope & building product" is intended for novel solutions with innovative materials and building constructions.
Conditions of participationDue to the thematic breadth, all players in the construction sector are invited to apply: from clients and property developers to architecture, building services, urban and landscape planning offices, manufacturers and research institutions. The competition is aimed at buildings or neighbourhoods completed in Germany that are at an advanced stage of planning; multiple applications in different categories are possible.
What awaits the winnersThe award winners can look forward to public recognition on several levels. The award ceremony will take place on 29 September at a congress on sustainable building at the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety in Berlin, where the award-winning projects will be presented to experts and the media. The award-winning projects and their plus points will also be presented on the websites of the UBA and the Federal Ministry for the Environment - including in the form of videos: This is because the UBA is having films made about the award-winning sustainability examples, which the winners can then use for their own public relations work. In addition, all award-winning projects will be documented in a book.
Interested parties can find more information on the conditions of participation in the Federal Environment & Building Award and the selection procedure on the UBA website: www.umweltbundesamt.de/bundespreis-umwelt-bauen-start
Difu study provides recommendations for more effective use of funding in NRW
Staff shortages and high administrative demands are two of the reasons that prevent cities, districts and municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) from drawing down available urban development funding on time. This is an important finding of a study conducted by the German Institute of Urban Affairs (Difu) on behalf of the then Ministry of Building, Housing, Urban Development and Transport of North Rhine-Westphalia (now: Ministry of Home Affairs, Local Government, Building and Equality).
In the past ten years, about 83 percent of the municipalities in NRW used urban development funds. Due to a very high number of project applications - with a total volume of around 1.45 billion euros - four to five times more funds were applied for than were originally earmarked. This illustrates the high demand of the municipalities and at the same time the fundamental acceptance of the existing funding instruments.
However, more than 80 per cent of the cities and municipalities surveyed criticise the public procurement law, as the resulting administrative burden is a key obstacle for them in making smooth use of urban development funding. In addition, the municipalities surveyed believe that there are generally major staffing bottlenecks. Many municipalities also feel that the cost calculations for funding measures that have to be submitted with the application are too time-consuming and detailed. This is also due to the fact that multi-year forecasts are always subject to uncertainties regarding the actual time allocation by the funding agencies, price developments and possible unforeseeable developments.
Based on the results of its survey of North Rhine-Westphalian municipalities, Difu therefore recommends dispensing with new programmes in favour of merging and/or redesigning the existing federal-state programmes for urban development funding. In addition, the existing procedures should be made more flexible. This applies in particular to the application for and settlement of funding by the municipalities with the state. However, the municipalities must also make their contribution: urban development funding must be a "matter for the boss" and requires sufficient personnel resources and continuous cooperation between all the departments and treasuries involved in the cities and municipalities. However, the municipalities need support from the state to build up sufficient personnel capacities in the technical areas.
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As part of Expo Real 2019, experts from the timber construction industry came together for the kick-off event of the Holzbau München network. Organiser Andreas Lerge, Managing Director of Wood Real Estate, opened the evening and welcomed his guests with the topics of digitalisation and professionalisation in timber construction. Larger timber construction projects are currently still underrepresented in German cities, but the general demand for living space in Munich will increase by around 250,000 flats by 2025. Reason enough to make urban timber construction the standard through serial construction and industrial prefabrication. The advantages are obvious: systemised construction reduces construction costs, only a few skilled workers are needed on site to assemble prefabricated modules, construction time and noise and traffic pollution are reduced.
