02/21/2023
Source: Energy & Management Powernews
Renovating existing buildings is to become the key to more affordable housing and climate protection. Ways to it sketches a study of two Ministries with the Federal Environment Agency
Measures for an ecological building turnaround, suggests a joint study of Federal Ministry of Building (BMWSB), Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMUV) and Federal Environment Agency (UBA). It was presented to journalists in Berlin on February 20. UBA and the Commission for Sustainable Construction at UBA (KNBau) have drafted how more affordable housing can be created without unnecessarily harming the environment and health.
Federal Minister of Construction Klara Geywitz (SPD) said of affordable housing, "We need a new direction." When it comes to urgently needed housing, it is necessary and possible to protect the environment and climate at the same time, underlined Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens). "In view of the enormous demand for resources in the construction sector, we must think together about housing creation, resource conservation and climate adaptation," she said.
Refurbishment before new construction
UBA President Dirk Messner presented the position paper. According to him, the construction industry is responsible for one third of greenhouse gas emissions, which already starts with the production of building materials, progresses with land sealing and finally ends with waste during demolition. Therefore, the most important adjusting screw for more environmental protection in housing construction is that the existing building stock is preserved wherever possible or sensibly converted and repurposed.
"In addition to the urgently needed new construction, we must focus more strongly on the conversion and repurposing of existing buildings," Messner emphasized. The socio-ecological transformation of our cities needs a paradigm shift. New housing in existing buildings saves raw materials and protects the open landscape from further urban sprawl. "We also need to recycle and cycle much more building materials," the UBA president urged.
Preparing cities for global warming
"What we need are climate-resilient cities with a smartly planned blue and green infrastructure of water and urban greenery for nature and human recreation," Environment Minister Lemke said. If new housing is built primarily in inner cities and on brownfield sites, and existing buildings are renovated and converted, this will save energy, waste and greenhouse gases.
Building Minister Geywitz announced increases in funding for social housing, which will be linked more to ecological criteria. "To forego climate standards today in building - whether conversion, addition or new construction - is already unprofitable in the short term and harms future generations," she said. To do that, she said, the approach must move away from a focus on primary energy consumption to a life-cycle approach to new and existing construction that looks at the overall greenhouse gas balance. "We are already implementing this with the QNG seal," Geywitz said.
The upcoming municipal heat planning as an important component of the heat transition and the upcoming major building code amendment will take up many of the demands from the UBA study, she announced. The triad "building - climate protection - social" is the goal, Geywitz said. Urban planning of the future must not play off the three pillars of compact building, healthy urban greenery and sustainable mobility against each other, Messner warned.
"If today's parking lot courtyards become home gardens again, this must go hand in hand with suitable mobility alternatives, i.e. expanded public transport and sharing services as well as additional bicycle lanes and pedestrian areas," the UBA president said. Compact and space-saving construction must be combined with intensively usable playgrounds and green corridors that have a positive impact on the climate, he added. Indoor pollutant levels also need to drop through healthy materials, he said. "We spend 80 percent of our time in Germany in buildings," Messner reminded.
Union calls for tax rebate for builders
The economic wing of the Union had previously called for streamlined building regulations for new buildings in a package of measures for more affordable housing. In addition, the refurbishment of existing properties should be promoted by taxation and building on brownfield sites and in inner cities should be made easier. The first owner-occupied home should be largely exempt from real estate transfer tax so that more homes are built again. Together with the municipalities, building land should also be reclaimed, particularly on brownfield and conversion sites and in outlying areas, the Union said.
The UBA/KNBau position paper on climate protection in construction is available on the Internet.
Author: Susanne Harmsen
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