NRW relies on sustainable turnarounds: Summer Festival of the AKNW enthusiastic!

NRW relies on sustainable turnarounds: Summer Festival of the AKNW enthusiastic!

in Cologne there was a growth on July 3 at the Aknw summer festival, where around 650 chamber members and guests from politics, business and associations came together in the former canteen of a large fabric manufacturer. Here was both celebrated and seriously discussed: What does the future of the built environment look like in North Rhine-Westphalia? Ernst Uhing, President of the North Rhine-Westphalia Chamber of Architects (AKNW), made it unequivocally clear that the climate rights and functional design of our living and work rooms had to be in the top priority. The importance of the existing building stock is becoming more and more in focus, as [AKNW reports that] (https://www.aknw.de/aktuelles/news/dails/news/fokus-auf-den-beste.

With a building stock of around 9.3 million units, NRW is a real heavyweight. Uhing has brought the urgent "classic car regulation" into play, which would make it possible to preserve existing buildings sustainably and to develop sensibly. "In conversions, the technical requirements of the year of construction should apply, not today's ideal standards", he campaigned for protecting old structures instead of simply tearing off in favor of new ideal ideas.

sustainability and energy efficiency

The topic of sustainability was also a central discussion at the summer festival. Gabriele Willems, Managing Director of the NRW and property company NRW (BLB NRW), emphasized that increasing demands on environmental protection not only represent challenges, but also opportunities for the renovation of the inventory. With an annual construction volume of over one billion euros and 4,100 buildings in the portfolio, the BLB NRW shows that serious efforts are made towards sustainable buildings.

not to forget the role of energy efficiency, which is extremely important with regard to the entire life cycle of a building. [Energy4Climate makes it clear that] (https://www.energy4climate.nrw/waerme-gebaeude/Energieefficient-baeude- und-quartiere) sustainable building on minimizing the energy and resource consumption in order to reduce the environmental impact. Gray energy, which is spent on the production, transport and disposal of a building, already accounts for over 50% of the emissions of an energy -efficient new building.

The role of certification

Another component in the discussion about sustainability was the certification system of the German Society for Sustainable Building (DGNB). This [certification system allows the comparable evaluation of sustainability features] (https://www.dibt.de/de/sie-sind/ sustainable building) of such structural systems. It takes numerous uses into account, including residential and commercial buildings, hotels and mixtures of different usage elements. The evaluation takes place in various quality levels from platinum to gold and silver to bronze.

With an investment package of the federal government that has additional tasks, those responsible in NRW have raised awareness of the development of the inventory. State Secretary Daniel Sieveke emphasized that it was important to anchor this awareness among the population and in the construction industry. In a constantly changing economic and social environment, it is said to be flexible and future -oriented.

The exciting conversations at the AKNW summer festival have shown that the construction and real estate sector in NRW is on the right track. In a perfect interaction of old and new building structures, the region will continue to position itself as a model region for sustainable building and living.