Building regs backlash in Germany
German Housing Minister Klara Geywitz, Finance Minister Christian Lindner and a number of other senior cabinet members of the German coalition have expressed their concern about potential revisions to the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), which would include mandatory renovations for buildings with the worst energy performance.
The German government is currently targeting excessive regulation and red tape, blaming EU regulation for stifling the German economy.
There is an interesting balance. The built environment is important from a decarbonisation perspective (40% of energy-related GHG emissions), a resources perspective (40% of global raw materials), and particularly when we focus on ongoing operations, a cost of living (and hence social) perspective.
Retrofitting, particularly when reusing materials can be a successful way to both save on incremental embodied carbon (new emissions from construction/demolition) and on operational carbon (through energy efficiency - i.e. using less energy to regulate temperature). There isn't a one-size-fits-all approach however and it is important to have the necessary support and social licence to engage communities so that they buy into it (and it is affordable from a disruption and cost perspective).
Link to blogs 👇🏾
Sandy Jayaraj
Steven Bowen
One to watch out for: we have a blog being published on Wednesday 4th October titled "Better building regulations can drive greener buildings."
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