Straw-insulated buildings - New edition of the FNR brochure
Published
Fig: FNR
Since the first edition of the FNR brochure "Straw Insulated Buildings" in 2013, building with this environmentally friendly and cost-effective material has developed positively.
Since 2014, it has been possible to plaster the bales directly on the inside and outside of buildings without additional plaster base, as well as to insulate the outside of masonry. Straw now also offers an interesting option for the energy-efficient refurbishment of old buildings.
The new edition of the FNR straw building brochure therefore contains a completely new chapter on the topic of "Renovation concepts with straw". It also provides good arguments for building sustainably with straw and updated cost overviews. Some of the building examples presented are also new, including three-storey, directly rendered straw buildings.
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 City Makes Future as a System. A book by Klaus Burmeister and Ben Rodenhäuser about the city as a real laboratory for living and doing business.
On the basis of four main topics (environment/sustainability, technology/networking, urban culture/participation and social issues/inequality) Burmeister/Rodenhäuser Ten fields of actionTheir potentials, but also risks, for the development of urban spaces are explored.
Article by "ProZukunft" from 12.10.2016: www.prozukunft.org/v1/2016/10/stadt-macht-zukunft
Germanwatch welcomes agreement on new energy directive / German government gives up resistance at the last minute and supports ambitious climate protection
Bonn/Brussels. The development and environmental organisation Germanwatch welcomes the adoption of the European Investment Bank's new energy directive as an "important signal for the entire financial market". It stipulates the phase-out of financing fossil fuel projects by the end of 2021. The phase-out was also achieved thanks to a joint approach by the previously conflicting federal ministries.
"This decision sends an important signal to other development banks and the entire financial market. Financing fossil fuel projects that are not compatible with the Paris climate goals will become much more difficult overall," says Christoph Bals, Political Director of Germanwatch. He welcomes the fact that the environment and finance ministries have overcome the blockade by the economics ministry and, after weeks of disagreement, have finally agreed to the phase-out. "Fortunately, the German government managed at the last minute to avoid being seen as a blocker on climate protection at EU level this time."
As a member of the German government's Sustainable Finance Advisory Council, Bals is hoping that the council will present concrete recommendations in spring 2020 that will make Germany a leading location for sustainable finance and that are compatible with the Paris climate goals.
The Investment Bank's decision allows for exemptions to promote particularly energy-efficient gas-fired power plants beyond 2021. However, this is subject to the condition that credible plans are submitted for the subsequent primary use of climate-friendly renewable gases and that the specified emission caps are not exceeded. Germanwatch emphasises that this rule must now be made watertight. The exception must not become a major loophole.
Energy and future storage Pfaffengrund model street view. Fig.: Stadtwerke Heidelberg
On Monday, 17 July 2017, a symbolic ground-breaking ceremony took place for the IBA's flagship project on the Stadtwerke Heidelberg site in Pfaffengrund. Heidelberg's Lord Mayor Prof. Dr. Eckart Würzner, Heidelberg's First Mayor Jürgen Odszuck, Dr. Rudolf Irmscher, Managing Director of Stadtwerke Heidelberg, Michael Teigeler, Managing Director of Stadtwerke Heidelberg Energie and project partners - accompanied by 180 guests - gave the symbolic starting signal for the project. The energy and future storage facility of Stadtwerke Heidelberg was recently awarded a prize as a project of the International Building Exhibition (IBA): On the recommendation of the international board of trustees, the IBA supervisory board has selected the energy and future storage facility as one of the projects that the IBA Heidelberg will continue to support intensively and whose challenging realisation is now pending. With LAVA-Laboratory for visionary architecture and A24 Landschaftsarchitekten (both Berlin), an international, innovative architectural firm won the competition. During a round of talks at the ground-breaking ceremony, the managing director of the IBA Heidelberg, Prof. Michael Braum, and Jürgen Odszuck presented the IBA project certificate to Michael Teigeler. The storage facility is scheduled to go into operation by the end of 2019.
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