On 14 December 2016, the North Rhine-Westphalia state parliament passed the amendment to the state building code. The main parts of the new version will come into force one year after publication in the NRW Ministerial Gazette, i.e. in all probability at the beginning of 2018.
You can find the full article and a summary of the most important new features here:
www.aknw.de/...novelle-der-landesbauordnung
Bonn/Berlin (26 Jan. 2019). The Coal Commission's decision sets the course for the coal phase-out by 2035, or 2038 at the latest. The environmental and development organisations welcome these decisions, but regret that this phase-out path is not yet ambitious enough to achieve the Paris climate goals.
In 2023, according to the compromise, the phase-out can be improved for the first time so that it fits in with the climate goals of Paris. Only then would the social contract be fulfilled that we owe to those already massively affected by the climate crisis and to future generations. Around 10,000 students pressed for this yesterday in front of the negotiation building. Thousands supported them in many cities nationwide.
Cornerstones of the compromise: - The phase-out of coal should be completed by 2038 at the latest and preferably by 2035. In 2032, it will be examined whether the phase-out is already possible in 2035 in terms of energy economics. The environmental associations state in a special vote that they assume 2035 in view of the climate policy and energy economic situation.
- By 2022, a total of 12.5 GW of coal are to be decommissioned or placed in reserve. This includes 3 GW of lignite in the west in addition to the closures already decided. This will save the Hambach Forest and probably also the villages in NRW.
- In 2023, the targets can be revised for the first time so that they fit in with the Paris climate goals.
- The large Jänschwalde power plant will be shut down by 2025. The name is not mentioned, but the announced reduction of 10 million tonnes of CO2 refers to this site.
- From 2025, a steady reduction path begins until 2030, leading to a maximum of 9 GW of lignite and 8 GW of hard coal. This steady path is specified in a special vote by the environmental associations.
Keywords:
DE-News, Renewable, Climate protection, News Blog Brandenburg, News Blog NRW, Environmental policy
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.
Link:
www.natureplus.org/index.php?id=157...
Keywords:
Stock, DE-News, New books and studies, Thermal insulation
Creating sufficient affordable housing - especially in European conurbations - is one of the great challenges of our future and calls for new solutions. In view of demographic change, changing family structures and growing environmental awareness, completely new forms of housing have developed in Europe: shared living for young and old, residents' cooperatives, senior living projects, eco-settlements, integrative living or neighbourhoods in the neighbourhood. Above all, the significance of communal living will change against the background of social traditions and framework conditions such as housing policy and the housing market. This book offers an insight into communal living in eleven European countries - Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, France, Great Britain, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Germany - and presents a large number of exemplary housing projects with their structural and social concepts as well as their different forms of sponsorship.
The book (120 pages) was published by Jovis Verlag and can be purchased at the wohnbund office and in bookshops (ISBN 978-3-86859-406-5).
Europe
Living together
Wohnbund e. V. (Ed.)
Softcover
21 x 29,7 cm
120 pages, 149 col., 18 b/w ill., plans and tables
German/English
ISBN 978-3-86859-406-5
12.2015
www.jovis.de/de/buecher/product/europa.html
Keywords:
Cohousing, DE-News, New books and studies, News Blog Europe (without DE), Social / Culture, Housing policy, Residential, Housing projects, eG, Aesthetics / Architecture / Building Culture
According to Dr Axel Berg, Chairman of the Executive Board of the German Section of EUROSOLARAccording to the author, neither ambitious climate protection goals nor an increased ecological awareness are the drivers of the energy turnaround, but rather "the exponential cost degression in renewable energy technologies, the technical innovations in storage technologies and a high level of interest from the industrial sector". In his detailed, expert contribution, he names three key technologies that, in their interaction, will accelerate the energy turnaround to such an extent that it is very likely that major players from German old industry, which for decades were considered the backbone of our powerful industrial nation, will be disrupted away by new players.
The three Key technology:
1. solar energies, especially photovoltaics and wind power
2. memory
3. renewable mobility
We would have to increase research and development efforts in Germany to tinker with new battery generations and all the high-tech. We need public showcases, the conversion of public authority vehicle fleets, showcase cities like Graz and the bundling of SMEs. In the SME sector, many new players with good ideas are waiting in the wings. Subsidies in the double-digit billions flow annually, only slowing down the wrong channels of old industry (e.g. diesel...).
Conclusion
According to Berg, citizens could look forward to the disruptive developments described. Our cities would become quieter, the air cleaner, the quality of life would increase. Mobility would become smoother and much cheaper [FNB: because only a fraction of the previous cars would be needed and the external costs would be eliminated].
It will be bitter for the old world. The car companies have a lot of money and can survive by shrinking - similar to what E.on or RWE are currently trying to do by splitting up. It will be brutal for the medium-sized suppliers who specialise in engine parts such as gearboxes, carburettors, clutches or pistons that are simply no longer needed. Or the 40,000 car repair shops in Germany alone, whose main job is to service combustion engines. The later they look for new fields of business, the harder the economic and social collapses will be.
Everything is ready for the start of information technology disruption: renewable energies, storage, digitalisation and autonomous electric vehicles. By 2030, all of this could already be accomplished.
Read the full article from 7.8.2017 here:
www.energiezukunft.eu/...
Keywords:
100% EEs, Stakeholders, Construction and operating costs, Energy storage, Renewable, Climate protection, Mobility, News Blog Europe (without DE), PV, PlusEnergy house/settlement, Solar thermal, Electricity storage, Transition Town, Ecology, Economics
