General

As part of the "DGNB Sustainability Challenge 2023", the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB) has recognized outstanding players in sustainable construction. Smarter Habitat impressed with "ecoHab", a building panel made from popcorn. The company STRAMEN.TEC scored with a dry construction system made from straw. The Technical University of Berlin impressed with a sustainable rental apartment building made of wood, brick...

Around 11.2 billion euros were invested in sustainable, certified buildings in Germany in 2022. This corresponds to a 30.6 percent share of the total investment market. This is according to the market report by BNP Paribas Real Estate GmbH. The document also provides information on the growing importance of green building certificates such as DGNB, BREEAM and LEED. Especially for institutional...

Munich Regional Court I has ruled that the film operator GmbH (defendant) must vacate and surrender a cinema in the center of Munich (case no. 34 O 7322/20). The decision is based on the lease agreement from 1956, which was transferred to the defendant in 2006. The cinema in question is part of a property owned by a fractional community. The plaintiff owns 80...

The Association of Private Building Owners (VPB) warns of the financial consequences of a planned reform of the Hazardous Substances Ordinance. If the reform is implemented as planned, private building owners, especially those without expertise, could have to pay for costly pollutant testing and remediation in older buildings on their own. Corinna Merzyn, Managing Director of VPB, emphasizes: "Not...

In times of increasing water scarcity, homeowners are called upon to use this vital resource more consciously. The Association of Private Builders (VPB) points this out. The carefree use of water for gardening, washing the car or filling the pool is no longer possible in view of falling groundwater levels in many regions. The association recommends taking this into account when planning a new...

Customers of the insolvent energy supplier BEV are still entitled to the promised new customer bonus. This was decided by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) (IX ZR 267/20). In this case, the insolvency administrator no longer wanted to grant the new customer bonus in full after the company filed for insolvency in 2019. The Federation of German Consumer Organizations (vzbv) filed a model declaratory action against this...

The portal "schoener-wohnen.de" provides tips for the household. For example, the microwave can be cleaned using a lemon. To do this, it must first be squeezed. The juice and peel should then be placed in a dishwasher-safe container with water and placed in the microwave. This is now switched on for two minutes at the highest setting. Then...

The German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB) has presented the new digital network platform "myDGNB" to the public. The platform is aimed at architecture, engineering and planning offices, real estate and finance companies, construction companies, product manufacturers, local authorities, universities and all other interested parties. Via the platform, they have...

Scientists from the universities of Freiburg and Stuttgart presented a pavilion that was constructed using new, computer-aided methods and robotic manufacturing processes. According to the researchers, the construction of the "livMatS Biomimetic Shell @ FIT" pavilion in lightweight timber construction resulted in considerable resource savings compared to traditional timber construction. The...

Researchers have now achieved an electrical efficiency of 99.74 percent using heat pump technology. This was made possible by advances in power electronics, which have been specially developed for electrocalorics. According to the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics IAF, the effect is as follows: if an electrocaloric material made of special materials is...