WORLD RECORD: 18 storeys in wood in only three months
Published
Vancouver celebrates topping-out ceremony of the world's tallest wooden residential building at present
26.08.2016 - In Vancouver, Canada, a world record in timber construction has been set - almost casually and without much fuss. The wooden structure of the 18-storey student dormitory of the University of British Columbia was erected in 66 working days and celebrated its topping-out ceremony on 10 August. The steel roof structure and parts of the prefabricated façade, which was insulated with wood fibre and clad with weatherproof HPL panels, are still missing.
According to the current schedule, the project, which cost around € 35 million, could be completed and handed over to the owner in September next year. Then over 400 students will move into over 300 flats. The construction consists of a combination of glulam columns and cross-laminated timber floors - the foundation, ground floor and staircase lift houses were concreted.
Constance receives project funding for "Hafner KliEn" from the Federal Government's 7th Energy Research Programme
The city of Constance strives for sustainable urban development. In the area of energy policy decisions and climate protection, this should include consideration of the triad of sufficiency, efficiency and substitution. This also and above all applies to the new Hafner district, which, in addition to 15 hectares of commercial land, also includes around 45 hectares of residential land.
Here, it is the city's declared goal to develop a climate-neutral neighbourhood in the overall balance. Early on in the process, relevant foundations were laid at the planning level and in the processes in order to think about this goal in an integrated way with all relevant subject areas and to develop corresponding concepts.
The research project "Hafner KliEn" aims to develop transferable concepts and practical solutions. The project title "KliEn" is composed of the goal "Hafner, climate-neutral and energy-efficient". For the first time in Germany, the feasibility of achieving these goals is being demonstrated in a neighbourhood of this size. An integral conceptual approach is to be developed that considers the entire life cycle of buildings, infrastructure and operating phase in a total system context. With a detailed project description, the City of Constance - supported by the Steinbeis Innovation Centre from Stuttgart - together with other partners from science and practice applied in January 2020 for funding within the framework of the 7th Energy Research Programme of the German Federal Government. At the end of November, the funding for the entire research network was approved for a total of two million euros. "We are very pleased about the recognition for the most sustainable and largest neighbourhood in Constance. The funding of 2 million enables us to tackle this ambitious goal with numerous partners. We are creating affordable housing for about 6,000 people in ecologically and energetically exemplary construction. The goal of climate neutrality is forward-looking. Especially against the backdrop of urban change, this project is of utmost importance for the housing action programme," says Karl Langensteiner-Schönborn, Mayor of the City of Hamburg, about the commitment.
In addition to the city administration, the following partners are involved in the project: The Steinbeis Innovation Centre, Stadtwerke Konstanz, HTWG and the University of Konstanz. The project partners are also pleased about the funding commitment. Dr. Norbert Reuter, Managing Director of Stadtwerke Konstanz, is one of them: "The funding enables us to develop a largely climate-neutral neighbourhood for the largest settlement expansion area in the city of Konstanz. We are very pleased to be able to help shape this path for the important areas of energy and heat supply as well as mobility." Further information on the Hafner and the "Hafner KliEn" research project at www.neuer-stadtteil.de
Source: PM of the City of Constance from 1.12.2020
Average building land prices for individual development by district type 2007 to 2016 Fig.: BBSR Bonn
Between 2011 and 2016, the average price of building land for owner-occupied homes across Germany rose by 27 per cent from 129 euros per square metre to 164 euros. In the major cities, the price per square metre of building land rose by 33 per cent - from just over EUR 250 in 2011 to just under EUR 350 in 2016. This not only makes residential property significantly more expensive, but also puts the brakes on affordable rental housing construction. This is the result of an analysis by the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR).
The analysis is based on purchase price data from the official expert committees for property values for the last five years. In the urban and rural districts, the price level and increase lagged behind the major cities. However, even there the increase was well above the general rate of inflation. In the urban districts - often districts surrounding large cities - purchase prices for undeveloped land rose from 132 euros per square metre in 2011 to 156 euros per square metre in 2016 (+19 per cent), while in the rural districts, the price per square metre of building land rose from 64 euros to 78 euros in 2016 (+20 per cent).
The average purchase price for a plot of land for owner-occupied development also rose significantly - by 27 per cent to EUR 112,000 in 2016. In the major cities, the average purchase price for a plot of land for owner-occupied development was just under EUR 200,000 (+ 25 per cent). Average purchase prices have risen particularly sharply in expensive cities. "Rising land prices determine the purchase or construction costs to a considerable extent, especially in the growth regions. This makes residential property more expensive," says BBSR expert Matthias Waltersbacher. "In tight markets, high building land prices are also driving rents for new builds up to EUR 14 to 16 per square metre. This means that privately financed residential construction at affordable rents is no longer possible."
While the transaction figures for plots of land for owner-occupier development remained fairly stable in the urban districts between 2011 and 2016, they fell by 30 per cent in the major cities. Transactions fell particularly sharply in expensive cities such as Cologne, Frankfurt am Main and Stuttgart. Rural districts recorded an increase of just under 15 per cent in the same period. "Property prices have recently risen so sharply that the pressure to realise them often no longer allows for the development of single-family homes," says Waltersbacher. "More and more buyers are looking for alternatives in the surrounding area."
The analysis is based on an examination of the independent cities and rural districts for which transaction data for properties is available via the purchase price collections of the expert committees for property values in a complete time series since 2011. This representative longitudinal section covers around a third of all cities and districts in Germany. A comprehensive analysis of the land and property market for the years 2015 and 2016 will be presented by the Working Group of the Higher Expert Committees, Central Offices and Expert Committees in the Federal Republic of Germany (AK OGA) in December 2017 with the German Property Market Report.
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