In the joint appeal “Focusing on the entire life cycle of buildings – a key issue for climate protection”, a broad alliance of actors from civil society, science, business and practice calls on the German government to promote the climate-friendly construction, maintenance and deconstruction of buildings. Up to now, only the use phase of buildings has been taken into account in state funding for buildings and in the Building Energy Act. There is a lack of specifications and a consideration of the climate impact of building materials and the construction and disposal of buildings. Therefore, it is now time to look at the entire life cycle of a building – from the start of construction to the use phase. Tegel Projekt GmbH, which will realise one of the largest European construction projects in the next 20 to 30 years with Berlin TXL – The Urban Tech Republic and the Schumacher Quartier, is a co-signatory of this appeal.
Eight percent of Germany’s greenhouse gas emissions are caused by the construction sector and its upstream and downstream processes. In a typical new building, half of the greenhouse gas emissions and energy expenditure caused over a life cycle of 50 years are due to the production of construction materials and the construction of the building. This means that the building sector in Germany has a climate impact on the scale of the air traffic of all Germans. In order to achieve the climate targets, all savings potentials of the building sector must therefore be exhausted. The Step-by-Step Plan on Climate and Resource Protection in Construction already looks back on 30 years of research on sustainable construction. As a next step, the step-by-step plan envisages making the verification procedure for the funding bonus for sustainable construction methods practicable and straightforward. The requirement should take into account the entire life cycle of a building. With the call, the Building Energy Act is also to be adapted by 2023 at the latest. More than 60 supporters have already signed the call, which was published on 10 December 2020. The call is open for signatures until the end of January. It will then be presented at a public event and discussed with political representatives.
