General

The consumer center's energy advice service has been providing information and advice on the subject of energy and energy consumption in Germany since 1978. One of the main goals is to support and inform private consumers about how they can save energy in the household and in everyday life and sustainably protect the environment. This is because energy consumption is particularly high in the home: according to the...

A legal dispute arose in Frankfurt am Main between two women who jointly occupied an apartment in the form of a shared apartment (AZ 2-11 T 117/20). In January 2017, the two tenants concluded a joint rental agreement in which they were both listed as the main tenants. In March 2020, one of the tenants expressed her wish to leave the lease in order to live together with...

Not only in attic apartments in the summer can be very hot in the apartment. When the sun beats down on the window surface, the heat penetrates the room and temperatures rise rapidly. Sun protection films attached to the windows from the outside can provide relief. Stiftung Warentest tested 11 sun protection films from different manufacturers. The test results are...

Savillis, a real estate consultant, sees positives in the structural change in the retail sector. While some trade associations predict the end of the inner city and a death of stores, Savillis also sees opportunities in the crisis and a restructuring of the inner cities. First and foremost is the argument that top rents in the city centers and shopping streets in the area of...

If you want to build a wooden house, you can choose between different designs and construction methods. Rustic log houses or classic log houses have a higher proportion of wood than prefabricated houses in wooden panel construction. However, modern wooden houses made of a wood-glass combination, modular houses or Tiny Houses are also ecological and climate-friendly and offer a special living climate....

In order to protect the climate and save water resources, the German Federal Environment Ministry presented a "National Water Strategy" last month. This is intended to help counteract the impending water shortage in Germany. In this context, the "Verband Wohneigentum" (VWE) has published a position paper, which serves as a guide, the behavior in the garden...

A legal dispute has arisen between two neighbors (AZ V ZR 234/19). On one property there is a 15 meter high black pine tree, whose branches and twigs extend to the neighboring property. The black pine has already been growing for 40 years, the branches have also been unfolding over the neighbor's property for 20 years. The latter is annoyed by the falling needles and cones and demands his neighbor...

In the interior style Japandi Japan and Scandinavia meet. Specifically, this style combines the calm and functional aspect of home furnishings from Japan with the warm and hyggeligen feel-good atmosphere from the north. What at first appears to be opposites is very similar in many aspects. Thus, in both furnishing styles and in both cultures, the...

According to the "Building Construction Forecast 2021" of the consulting firm EY Parthenon, the construction boom will flatten out somewhat for the time being in 2022 and 2023 until the construction trend recovers. The reasons for this projected trend are the effects of the Corona pandemic and the resulting economic uncertainties. Also, declining rental yields, the ever-increasing shortage of...

Anyone who buys a turnkey house usually gets a house from the prefabricated house manufacturer that meets the minimum values prescribed by law. For example, the masonry consists of a 17.50-centimeter-thick sand-lime brick wall with a facing layer of polystyrene up to 20 centimeters wide. The purpose of this facing layer is to ensure that the legally required energy values are achieved in the building and...