Five prize winners can look forward to the Lower Austrian Timber Construction Prize 2016, which was awarded for the 15th time on 6.6.2016.
Högl Winery, Wachau Prize winner utility building
(Copyright Elmar Ludescher)
"Planning is becoming more and more creative and every year there are new technical solutions. As a result, wood is becoming more attractive as a building material for builders and planners every year," summarises Deputy Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitne. "You can see this not only in single-family homes, but also in the public sector, where wood is being used more and more often in construction." The timber industry in Lower Austria has now reached a production value of around 1.7 billion euros and employs around 22,000 Lower Austrians.
On 27 September 2017, the IBA_LAB, the symposium of the International Building Exhibition (IBA) Heidelberg, will take place for the fifth time in a row. This year, for the first time, discussants and guests will meet in the German capital Berlin to broaden their perspective and discuss the question of the "Knowledge City of Tomorrow" in conversation - all in preparation for the IBA's major interim presentation in 2018.
The keynote speech at the evening reception will be given by Wolfgang Lotter, co-founder of brand eins. We will discuss the city in the knowledge society with Theresia Bauer, Minister of Science of the State of Baden-Württemberg, Undine Giseke, Head of the Department of Landscape Architecture and Open Space Planning at the TU Berlin, Volker Hassemer, former senator and board member of the Stiftung Zukunft Berlin, Jürgen Odszuck, Mayor of the City of Heidelberg, philosopher and author Rebekka Reinhard and Alexander Rieck from the Fraunhofer Institute.
The LAB deals in particular with the IBA Heidelberg's guiding question: How must the European city transform itself to meet the demands of tomorrow's knowledge society? From 2012 to 2022, the IBA wants to initiate and implement building projects and processes around the knowledge society and its guiding theme Knowledge | Creates | City. The primary aim is to focus questions of social change on their urban planning and architectural dimensions. In cooperation with the board of trustees, the IBA Heidelberg developed 4+1 more precise focal themes: Sciences, Learning Spaces, Networking, Material Cycles and overarching Co-production. Until 2022, the building projects are intended to give a selective impression of how the "knowledge city of tomorrow" will look in terms of architecture and planning.
Discourse at international level on the knowledge city of tomorrow is indispensable. That's why the IBA is looking for answers with appropriate knowledge transfer via existing and new networks - as was the case at this year's IBA_LAB N°5.
Theses on the "Knowledge City of Tomorrow" are also presented in the IBA Heidelberg's first publication, the recently published IBA_LOGBook N°1 thematised.Participation in IBA_LAB N°5 is free of charge. Please register by 20 September 2017 at www.iba.heidelberg.de.
The event is recognised by the Baden-Württemberg Chamber of Architects as continuing education for three hours.
84 metre high building in Vienna's new "Seestadt Aspern" district
After around two years of development, the ground-breaking ceremony has now been held to mark the start of the flagship HoHo project in Vienna. By 2018, around 20,000 square metres of rental space will be created on 24 levels using timber hybrid construction.
Read the full article from 19 October 2016 at Informationsdienst Holz
Scientific scenarios for climate neutrality support the strategy and planning of companies on the path to decarbonisation - Using the example of buildings and heating, climate economists at DIW Berlin analyse existing scenarios for climate neutrality - Net Zero scenarios show a clear path for the transformation of companies and the financial sector - With standardised scenarios and transition plans for climate neutrality, banks, funds and insurance companies can make their portfolios fit for the future
Scenario analyses on the climate-neutral transformation of the economy strengthen the strategic entrepreneurial orientation on the path to climate neutrality. In this context, scientific scenarios and standardised reports in particular support companies in bringing their own business model in line with the path to climate neutrality and reporting on it transparently. This forward-looking information also helps the financial sector. Banks, funds and other financial institutions can use standardised scenario analyses and reports on climate neutrality to identify transformation risks in good time. Therefore, they can make their own portfolios resilient and climate neutral and invest in companies on the path to climate neutrality at an early stage, shows a study by climate economists at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin). "Scenarios are a scientific starting point for companies to identify transformation levers and thus reduce their emissions as quickly as possible," says Fernanda Ballesteros, researcher in the Climate Policy Department at DIW Berlin.
Net Zero scenarios show clear path for companies with building portfolio
Ballesteros, together with Karsten Neuhoff, Head of DIW Climate Policy, and other researchers, analysed eight studies on possible climate neutrality by institutions as diverse as the Federal Environment Agency, the Federation of German Industries and Agora Energiewende. Using the example of companies with building portfolios, they worked out what the scenarios mean for corporate strategy on the path to climate neutrality.
"If the climate neutrality target is brought forward to 2035, the reporting on a resulting stress test scenario must be comparable to the core scenario." Karsten Neuhoff
"In the scenarios, the annual renovation rate increases from the current level of around one percent to at least 1.5 to two percent or well over two percent by 2045," write the authors of the DIW study. "The share of technologies based on renewable energies already reaches 46 to 55 per cent in 2030 and rises to 94 to 100 per cent by 2045, with heat pumps being the dominant technology with around 50 per cent," results the analysis of the scientific studies. After heat pumps, district heating follows as the central technology in the scenarios with a share of about 20 to 30 per cent. "The Net Zero scenarios show a clear path," says Ballesteros. "A company with a building portfolio can use the scenarios to see what it needs to implement in the building sector to reduce emissions and become climate neutral."
Standards for comparable reporting strengthen the financial industry
It is crucial for the climate-neutral transformation of the economy that companies document the transformation with comparable transition indicators. "With standardised scenarios and uniform reporting, companies can also show and explain deviations from net zero scenarios," says Karsten Neuhoff, Head of the Climate Policy Department at DIW Berlin. "This also supports new techniques and innovative strategies, which is why the German government should also advocate internationally for the standardisation of forward-looking reporting standards and scenario frameworks." In order for the financial sector to also use this information for analyses, comparable reporting on a company's core scenario in the current political environment is required, for example climate neutrality in 2045. However, a company's transition plan should also be resilient to changes in climate policy. Neuhoff: "If the goal of climate neutrality is brought forward to 2035, the reporting on a resulting stress test scenario must be comparable to the core scenario."
Background: EU and G20 negotiate standards for forward-looking climate reporting
In the Climate Protection Act, Germany has committed itself to gradually achieving climate neutrality by 2045. Companies from industry and the service sector must therefore change their production and business practices, and financial institutions must adjust their assessment criteria. In many cases, this requires a new strategic orientation and investments in climate-neutral products, business models and production technologies. For this, companies need capital and support from the financial sector, which plays a central role in achieving climate goals.
In order for investors, civil society organisations and public authorities to understand the investment needs, progress and potential risks of companies on the path to carbon neutrality, companies are expected to provide forward-looking reporting based on scientific evidence and standardised procedures. The science works with scenarios that also provide industrial and service companies as well as banks, funds and insurance companies with comparable information about the transition to a climate-neutral business model and resulting risks. With the help of the scenarios, companies can consider the transition risks and opportunities in their investment decisions. The scenarios enable the financial sector to decarbonise the portfolio step by step and to map company-specific transition risks and opportunities in risk management.
International climate reporting frameworks are already laying the groundwork for a common scenario framework and standards for forward-looking reporting on the path to climate neutrality. For example, the frameworks of the international Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures of the 20 most important industrialised and emerging economies (G20) and the EU, as well as the UK government's Transition Plan Taskforce. Other relevant processes are the negotiations on the planned disclosure requirements of the EU regulatory proposal CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) and the global sustainability reporting standards of the ISSB (International Sustainability Standards Board).
On 5 November 1977 27 people, including lawyers from the anti-nuclear movement, members of various environmental movements and critical natural scientists, but also economists and representatives of the Protestant Church, founded the Öko-Institut in Freiburg. The aim was to provide the public with independent scientific advice and well-founded expert opinions.
Today, more than 165 employees at the Freiburg, Darmstadt and Berlin sites work across disciplines in the fields of energy and climate protection; immission and radiation protection; agriculture and biodiversity; sustainability in consumption, mobility, resource management and companies; nuclear technology and plant safety, chemicals management and technology assessment as well as law, policy and governance.
2017 marks the 40th anniversary of the Öko-Institut. The independent scientific institute, which works extensively on sustainability issues and plays an active role in shaping environmental policy, is celebrating its anniversary under the motto "We wish for something!"
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