The Federal Environment Agency's publication "Urban Mining" was published in July 2017 and explains the possibilities of extracting raw materials in urban areas, for example from buildings, infrastructure and durable consumer and capital goods. While waste management is essentially concerned with the volume of waste, urban mining looks at the total stock of durable goods. The aim is to forecast future material flows as early as possible and to develop and establish the best possible recycling routes on this basis.
According to the Federal Environment Agency, five key questions on urban mining need to be answered at an early stage so that the potential of this concept can be strategically realised. Questions were identified regarding the location, nature and release of anthropogenic deposits, the players involved and the technical, logistical and organisational requirements.
The brochure is intended to convey an understanding of urban mining and to encourage the pursuit of this strategic approach. The Federal Environment Agency is striving for a strategic and interdisciplinary approach to urban mining.
Building culture is becoming a recognised goal in the real estate industry: with support from the real estate and housing industry, the Institute for Corporate Governance in the German Real Estate Industry (ICG) and the Federal Foundation for Building Culture initiated and developed the Code for building culturea voluntary commitment for the responsible performance of tasks by companies in the real estate industry.
In its role as project developer, planner, builder, owner, etc., the real estate industry bears particular responsibility for the design of our living spaces. At the same time, building culture values and social acceptance form the basis for economic success. The Codex for Building Culture now supports companies in the real estate industry in assuming social responsibility for the consequences of real estate business activities and for the built results on their own initiative and within the framework of self-regulation. The fact that building culture offers added value for the real estate industry has now entered people's minds - but is not always put into practice. In the survey of the participation process for the code, for example, 98% of the companies surveyed stated that the appreciation of historic properties is seen as relevant or at least relevant to a certain extent - only half of the respondents, however, stringently implement this in practice.
Building culture is always closely linked to process quality, which is why the initiators of the Code for Building Culture were keen to involve the players in the real estate industry in the drafting process. Since a personal discussion of the contents was not possible due to the Corona pandemic, companies in the real estate and housing industry were asked in the summer of 2020 to provide feedback on the draft of the Code for Building Culture by means of an online survey and were thus involved. Scientific support was provided by IREBS at the University of Regensburg.
Prof. Dr. Sven Bienert, Chairman of the Institute for Corporate Governance in the German Real Estate Industry /IREBS Institute at the University of Regensburg, is in favour of this code because: "In times of rising land prices and ever higher building densities, the issue of a "good building culture" is becoming increasingly important. This form of social responsibility will also increasingly concern the real estate industry in the future in the ever more important after-use and conversion - for example of churches that are increasingly coming onto the market."
"Our goal is to make the real estate industry fit for the future," says Karin Barthelmes-Wehr, Managing Director of the ICG. "This includes encouraging the players in the industry to deal with all the requirements of ESG (Environment Social Governance) and to forge new alliances in this regard. For this, the Code for Building Culture we have presented provides a very good basis in the field of planning, development and construction."
Reiner Nagel, Chairman of the Board of the Federal Foundation for Building Culture, emphasises: "The Code for Building Culture now focuses on the responsibility of real estate business activities for the spatial impact of the built environment on us and the resulting consequences, with which companies grow in their building culture competence. As a result, the quality of the built environment benefits from the Code for Building Culture that is now available."
The complete "Code forBuildingCulture" and documentation of the participation process can be found at on our website. It contains the following demands (abbreviated).
Attitude and Values:
- Holistic building culture
- Prudent action in new construction and portfolio development
- Appreciation of already existing building culture
Visions and goals:
- Use stocks
- go easy on resources
- Promoting diversity and mix
Processes and Means:
- life cycle assessment
- quality assurance
- Cooperative collaboration
Supporters of the Codex for Building Culture already include:
- Art Invest
- reason of value
- Landmarken AG
- COPRO Project Development GmbH
- PRIMUS developments GmbH
Source: PM of the Bundesstiftung Baukultur from 17.5.2021
The study "Method development for the description of target values for primary energy consumption and CO2 equivalent of building constructions for linking with property allocation and quality assurance up to design planning" by the RuhrUni Bochum under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Annette Hafner is now published and available for download.
In Brütten near Zurich in Switzerland, an apartment building with nine rental flats that is not connected to the energy grid has now been inaugurated.
"The rental costs are no higher than elsewhere. The most important energy source is photovoltaic modules. Schmid had an electrolyser installed in the cellar as a long-term storage unit for the solar power. The device uses solar electricity to produce hydrogen from water, which is stored in tanks. From the hydrogen, a fuel cell generates electricity and heat when the sun is not shining."
The cars for the tenants are also largely supplied by the system.
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