natureplus criticises ÖKO-TEST magazine's assessment of roof insulation materials
Published
In its August issue, ÖKO-TEST magazine evaluated 15 different roof insulation materials, including 5 with the natureplus seal of approval. The products are mainly suitable for insulation between rafters. The good performance of conventional products made of glass and rock wool, which all achieved "good", was striking. Of the natureplus-certified products, 2 insulation materials made of wood fibres - "Gutex Thermoflex" and "Pavaflex" by Pavatex - achieved the best rating in the test with "very good", while other products only scored "satisfactory" ("Isocell" cellulose fibre, "Thermo-Jute" by Thermo Natur) or "sufficient" (Ziro "Corktherm 040").
ECO criteria do not play a role However, natureplus Managing Director Thomas Schmitz finds the prioritisation of ÖKO-TEST "questionable". He criticises that the topic of manufacturing energy played no role whatsoever in the test. The use of renewable resources (renewable raw materials or recycled materials) also had no influence on the rating. "This does not fit in with the theme of ÖKO-Test," says Schmitz. The natureplus-tested products, on the other hand, all met high standards in these evaluation criteria, which were not taken into account by ÖKO-TEST.
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Timber construction can be cheaper than standard construction - At the same time significantly better CO2 balance
MNP Architects Munich, School Wangen
Current comparative calculations based on realized new buildings in timber construction show: Building with wood does not have to be more expensive than the standard construction method. This result is surprising, as it contradicts the common perception that timber construction is more expensive. At the same time, the CO2 balance of timber construction is significantly better; as a result, its CO2 avoidance costs are very favourable, in some cases even negative. An expansion of timber construction would therefore be climate protection at comparatively low cost.
The architect and developer of the Legep construction software, Holger König, has balanced the construction costs and CO2 emissions for the production of five public and private timber buildings and compared them with the results that would have been produced for the same buildings if they had been built in the conventional way. Legep can be used to calculate the manufacturing and life-cycle costs, energy requirements and environmental impact of buildings. In this case, König only looked at manufacturing. For the prices, he used current sirAdos data, which represent the market very realistically. He then went to the trouble that many architects, civil engineers and building owners shy away from: He modeled the buildings with the same area and cubature and the same energy standard, but replaced the wooden components with conventional materials - depending on the building project, solid masonry in brick, sand-lime brick or aerated concrete, or a column-beam supporting structure made of reinforced concrete. He used reinforced concrete for the floor slab, cellar, ceilings and flat roofs, mineral wool or polystyrene for the insulation, and plastic or aluminum frames for the windows. König explains the fact that four out of five buildings in timber construction cost less or the same as in standard construction with the industrial-technical development that many timber construction companies have undergone in recent years. Two of the timber buildings even achieved a negative CO2 balance in the manufacturing phase due to the large amount of renewable raw materials used, which act as carbon stores. In the other three buildings, a slightly higher proportion of non-wooden components, which every timber building also contains, caused the slightly positive CO2 balance.
If one relates the difference in CO2 savings to the difference in construction costs, one obtains the CO2 avoidance costs of timber construction. Negative abatement costs here mean that the builder has saved costs with timber construction compared to standard construction and at the same time protected the climate.
By increasing the proportion of timber construction, more climate protection can be achieved at low or even negative costs, while at the same time strengthening rural areas. The green-red state government in Baden-Württemberg has recognised this and created more favourable framework conditions for the building material in its state building code, which was amended on 1 March (information here). In contrast, some state building codes still contain legal obstacles to building with wood.
The city of Munich also wants to convince more builders to use timber construction: as part of its "Munich Energy Saving Promotion Programme", it has been granting a CO2 bonus for the use of timber and other renewable raw materials in building construction of 30 cents/kg since 2013 (information here).
A high insulation standard with insulating materials made from renewable raw materials is also a contribution to climate protection. The plant raw materials from which the insulating materials were obtained have bound CO2 from the atmosphere, which is now stored in the building material for long periods of time. And finally, heating based on renewable energies also reduces CO2 emissions.
The Agency of Renewable Resources (Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e.V.). (FNR) funded the determination of LCA baseline data for the Legep programme with funds from the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) between 2004 and 2006.
The Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs is supporting the climate-friendly construction of new buildings with a new funding programme that will start on 1 March 2023. For the first time, the entire life cycle of a building will be considered - from construction to operation to potential deconstruction in the distant future. The buildings are characterised by low greenhouse gas emissions in the life cycle, high energy efficiency, low operating costs and a high proportion of renewable energies for the generation of heat and electricity. This funding thus makes a contribution to climate protection and to meeting national climate targets.
Klara Geywitz, Federal Minister for Housing, Building and Urban Development:Climate-friendly building is no longer a can-do decision, but a must. Those who build today as they did in the past in order to save money are harming the climate and their wallets through horrendous ancillary costs. With this 750 million euro annual funding programme, we exclusively promote climate-friendly new construction. Anyone can use the KfW-funded interest rate reduction. It helps exactly when it is often most difficult: when starting the financing for a home or apartment building. It is important to see this funding programme as part of a large, social and climate-friendly construction funding programme of the federal government. Looking at the year 2023 alone, we are investing several billion in social housing, Trainee- and student housing, in the promotion of home ownership for families, the construction of apartment buildings and cooperative housing. Targeted funding, thinking about tomorrow today and excluding windfall profits - that is the funding principle of this federal government in building.
To the programme:
Funding is provided for the construction of new buildings and the initial purchase of newly constructed climate-friendly and energy-efficient residential and non-residential buildings that fall below specific limits for greenhouse gas emissions in the life cycle and meet the energy standard of an Efficiency House 40 / Efficiency Building 40 for new buildings.
There is greater support for buildings that also achieve the Quality Seal Sustainable Building (QNG).
Funding is provided in the form of low-interest loans for the construction of climate-friendly residential and non-residential buildings. Investors, cooperatives, companies and private individuals can apply through their development banks.
In addition, municipalities and districts receive investment grants e.g. for the construction of flats, day-care centres or schools.
The "Climate-friendly New Construction" funding programme is part of the federal funding for efficient buildings, which differentiates between funding for new construction projects and measures in existing buildings.
As of 1 January 2023, responsibility for new construction funding has been transferred from the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection to the Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Construction.
With the implementation of the funding programme, the BMWSB the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) has been commissioned. In future, applications for funding can be submitted there. Until then, it is ensured that the new construction funding programme "Efficient House / Efficient Building 40 Sustainability Class" of the BEG of the BMWK continues.
The federal funding for efficient buildings - climate-friendly new construction is a measure of cross-sectoral climate protection. The new requirements for greenhouse gas emissions in the life cycle are as follows a.o. an important contribution to limiting "grey emissions", the greenhouse gas emissions that can be traced back to the production and construction of buildings, including the supply chain. According to the BBSR-According to the study "Environmental Footprint of Buildings in Germany", the production, construction and modernisation of buildings accounts for around 7 % of national greenhouse gas emissions (about 65 million tonnes of CO2-equivalents). Added to this are 35 million tonnes of CO2-equivalents from suppliers abroad.
In addition, the new programme contributes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the building sector to 67 million tonnes of CO2-equivalents and thus achieve both the national and the European energy and climate targets by 2030. The annual CO2-equivalent reduction targets for the individual sectors are derived from the permissible annual emission quantities of the Federal Climate Protection Act.
Programme funds amounting to 1.1 billion euros are available from the Climate and Transformation Fund in 2023. Of this amount, 750 million euros will be allocated to the Climate-Friendly New Construction funding programme and 350 million euros to home ownership funding for families.
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In its August issue, ÖKO-TEST magazine evaluated 15 different roof insulation materials, including 5 with the natureplus seal of approval. The products are mainly suitable for insulation between rafters. The good performance of conventional products made of glass and rock wool, which all achieved "good", was striking. Of the natureplus-certified products, 2 insulation materials made of wood fibres - "Gutex Thermoflex" and "Pavaflex" by Pavatex - achieved the best rating in the test with "very good", while other products only scored "satisfactory" ("Isocell" cellulose fibre, "Thermo-Jute" by Thermo Natur) or "sufficient" (Ziro "Corktherm 040").
