Vorarlberg has included the "Holz von Hier" label in the new subsidy guidelines for residential buildings

Published 5 February 2020

Recently, the Austrian state of Vorarlberg published the subsidy guidelines for 2020 and 2021 for residential renovation and new construction in the private and public sectors. The climate-friendly procurement of wood and wood products from the region is anchored in these guidelines. The origin of the wood must be proven by means of the "Holz von Hier" label recently introduced in Austria or comparable certificates.

Financial advantage for building owners through regional wood

If regional wood is used, the costs eligible for housing subsidies increase by 20 euros per square metre of roof and façade area, for example. For an average-sized single-family house, this can add up to around 4,000 to 5,000 euros. In the case of new buildings, the recognised costs for a loan under the housing subsidy also increase by 20 euros per square metre of floor space for the use of regional wood for the windows, and by as much as 30 euros for the façade.

"With this innovation, we have placed climate-friendly procurement in the foreground, without the risk of legal discrimination against companies in border regions," says Provincial Councillor Christian Gantner, emphasising the priorities. Unlike other quality labels, "Holz von Hier" is not oriented towards state or national borders, but only takes into account transport distances along the entire processing chain. Cross-border cooperation in the wood processing chain is thus strengthened. "In the long term, thanks to "Holz von Hier", regional, rural businesses can be strengthened and imports from more distant countries such as Russia and Scandinavia can be replaced," adds DI Andreas Amann, Head of the Forestry Department of the Provincial Government.

Trend reversal towards more regionality and climate protection in timber construction

The inclusion of the "Holz von Hier" label can stimulate demand among end customers for domestic timber. In public tenders, the proof of origin is already required in accordance with the law, since it has found its way into the specifications for the municipal building certificate. In order to use the label, the entire processing chain must be traceable - all companies from the sawmill to the dealer to the window manufacturer must join the initiative if they want to offer domestic wood with chain-of-custody certification.

"We think that with the inclusion of 'Holz von Hier' in the housing guidelines, a trend reversal towards more regionality and climate protection in construction can be initiated," hopes Erich Reiner, contact person for Holz von Hier in Austria. This could succeed even better if the regionality of the entire building construction is taken into account in future revisions of the subsidy guidelines. The climate-friendly use of wood is in line with the forestry strategy of the state of Vorarlberg and supports the efforts to achieve the energy autonomy goals.

Link
www.holz-von-hier.eu

Keywords: Building materials / Construction, Procurement, Funding, Wood construction, Climate protection, NaWaRohs, Sustainable management, News Blog Europe (without DE), News Blog Austria, Resource efficiency, Vorarlberg

Published 19 March 2018

Young housing cooperatives call for rethinking

Demand Paper of the Alliance of Young Cooperatives Berlin of 9 March 2018

In order to promote the construction of affordable housing, an alliance of young cooperatives was founded in Berlin in 2017. "Housing cooperatives have been a cornerstone of the socially responsible and affordable housing market in Berlin for well over 100 years," notes Bremer Höhe cooperative board member and Alliance spokesman Ulf Heitmann. "In order to maintain the share of cooperative housing alone, which is currently around twelve percent, more than 20,000 cooperative apartments would have to be built in the coming years in view of the rapid population growth," Heitmann calculates.

The alliance also considers the cooperative development of building land in Berlin to be a failure: in order to reduce the rents for one third of the new apartments, the price for the remaining two thirds is being driven up even further - with fatal consequences for the market as a whole.

Moreover, small and medium-sized cooperatives in particular, which have only been operating on the market for a few years, would be systematically thwarted - contrary to what the red-red-green coalition agreement in the capital promised: "The young cooperatives do not have the necessary equity capital for financing overpriced plots of land and for construction. As a result, prospective buyers would have to bring higher deposits - making cooperative building unattractive despite low interest rates." In view of the skyrocketing land prices in Berlin, the new Alliance of Young Cooperatives is calling for completely new allocation procedures and financing instruments.

Good idea instead of even more money

This includes the massive activation of public building land and the allocation via quality and concept procedures instead of a price competition. "The success of the building groups in the first 2000s showed it: social and integrative aspects must play a much greater role if housing construction is to find public acceptance," argues Andreas Barz, co-alliance spokesman and CEO of the Studentendorf Genossenschaft.

In concrete terms, the initiative therefore calls for a scoring procedure to be applied when awarding public building land, in which, for example, low-cost, space-efficient or experimental construction and housing, social criteria such as inclusive housing projects for refugees, intergenerational or student housing, the provision of community facilities such as kindergartens or neighbourhood shops, low-car or ecological housing would be assessed using a points catalogue. The points score would also be rated higher than the price offered. In addition, the alliance of 25 cooperatives advocates diversity in the allocation process and therefore proposes that individual housing cooperatives be allocated a maximum of two public areas.

In addition, the Alliance of Young Housing Cooperatives is calling for equity replacement as a new funding tool. "It would be most effective to provide the young cooperatives with 20 percent of the total costs for land and construction as a lost grant, i.e. as a non-repayable subsidy.

As a further funding instrument for low-income households, the Alliance recommends that cooperative shares also be financed via KfW loans - this would help low-income households in particular, such as single parents or pensioners. "The current practice of building subsidies completely misses their needs. Even new instruments such as the Baukindergeld, which has been discussed for weeks, only benefit those who already have equity capital and collect this state subsidy on the side - those who do not bring any equity capital with them remain outside," Barz complains. "We counter this with the financing of cooperative shares via KfW, in order to also offer low-income earners a perspective on the hotly contested housing market."

About the Alliance of Young Cooperatives Berlin
The Alliance of Young Cooperatives Berlin was launched in the summer of 2017. The alliance includes 25 Berlin building and housing cooperatives - among them well-known citywide cooperatives such as the "Bremer Höhe" eG, the Studentendorf Schlachtensee cooperative, the Möckernkiez cooperative, which will be ready for occupancy this year after a difficult financing phase, and sponsors of internationally renowned projects such as the Spreefeld in the Mitte district.

The demand paper is presented at the recent construction site of the housing cooperative "Am Ostseeplatz" in Lynarstraße, Weddingen, which was one of the winners of the 2015 competition for Experimental Multi-storey Housing in Berlin with this community housing project.

download pdf of the claim paper

Website and contact of the Alliance of Young Cooperatives Berlin
http://junge-genossenschaften.berlin

Keywords:
Stakeholders, Cohousing, News Blog Berlin, Mix of uses, Quarters, Housing policy, Housing projects

Published 22. January 2017

Purchase premium in Munich now also for private eCargobikes

From January 2017, the state capital Munich will also pay up to 2,000 euros in purchase premiums for privately used eCargobikes.

On 1 April 2016, the Munich-based Electromobility funding guideline into force. It introduced purchase premiums for commercial e-vehicles from pedelecs to e-cars. Since then, there has been a subsidy of 25 percent of the purchase price up to a maximum of 1000 euros for commercially used eCargobikes. In the first five months 86 applications approved. In addition, there is a 1000 euro scrapping premium if a car with an internal combustion engine is demonstrably permanently withdrawn from circulation.

Read the whole article at: http://cargobike.jetzt

Keywords:
Bike-/Velo-City, Funding, Communities, Mobility, News Blog Bavaria, Environmental policy, eMobility

Published 21 September 2020

Crowdfunding campaign for ESA dormitory launched

ESA crowdfunding video from 12.09.2020

The popular ESA dormitory on the campus of the TU Kaiserslautern (TUK) is in great need of renovation. The foundation's renovation concept for TUK envisions the former experimental building becoming a CO2-neutral building. The estimated costs for the work have not yet been fully raised. Therefore, the ESA residents are participating with a crowdfunding campaign, which has been available on the Startnext platform since September 13.

"We are all grateful that we can continue to live in the ESA and contribute to the building's continued existence. There is a unique atmosphere here," says resident Marcel Meyer. At the end of May, the dormitory was finally handed over to its new owner, the TUK Foundation. Now the renovation work, worth a total of two million euros, is to get underway quickly. The remaining cost share of 700,000 euros is currently being raised by the foundation through fundraising. The ESA housing association's crowdfunding campaign is intended to generate further publicity and finance a modern solar system and insulation for the listed building.

On the campaign website at www.startnext.com/ein-haus-im-gruenen a pitch video and further information are available. "So that potential supporters can learn even more about us and life in the dormitory, we are also posting self-made video clips and a virtual tour of the building on the ESA website and on Facebook," explains Meyer.

Inviting people to the ESA via video as part of the crowdfunding campaign: (from left to right) Matthias Kremer, Tabea Lang, Marcel Meyer and Anna Avagyan - representing the entire residential community. Photo: TUK

Renovated all around, the dormitory will act as a gateway between the university campus and the Palatinate Forest in the future. "TU Kaiserslautern is proud to present such a unique building on its campus. With the energy-saving architecture, the builders have created a dormitory that has not lost its relevance today after 35 years. This is one reason why it was the first building on our campus to be listed at the end of last year," says Prof. Dr. Arnd Poetzsch-Heffter, President of TUK.

Annette Mechel, board member of the foundation, adds: "As the new owner of the dormitory, the TUK Foundation is pleased to be able to accompany this exciting project. The commitment and willingness of the residents to cooperate are helping us enormously to implement the not so easy renovation.

The crowdfunding campaign is expected to be available on Startnext for three months. The TUK Foundation and the ESA housing community are happy about every small donation that contributes to the preservation of the unique building. On the campaign website, supporters can receive a thank-you gift in return and request a donation receipt.

Further information is available at: esa.dormitory.uni-kl.de. On Facebook, the page of the ESA dormitory can be found under "@esakaiserslautern".

The TU Kaiserslautern is the only university in Rhineland-Palatinate with a technical and scientific orientation. Future-oriented study programs, practical training and a modern infrastructure are the framework conditions that students find at the campus university. The TU Kaiserslautern was awarded the Excellence Prize for Studies and Teaching in the nationwide competition "Excellent Teaching". With this award, the TU demonstrates the high value of its study programs. In addition, students and scientists benefit from the numerous internationally renowned research institutions that cooperate closely with the TU Kaiserslautern in the field of applied research.

Source: Press release of TU Kaiserslautern from 9.9.2020

Keywords:
Cohousing, DE-News, News Blog RLP, Affordable housing, Build it yourself, Student housing, Housing projects