Construction industry

The carpentry and timber construction industry in Germany is showing stability and growth, despite a decline in building permits. According to the association "Das deutsche Baugewerbe", the number of companies and employees in the sector increased in 2022. Larger companies with 20 or more employees in particular recorded remarkable growth. In addition, turnover growth of 1.3 percent was achieved....

The Bundestag has passed the "BauGB Digitization Amendment". This is intended to speed up the urban land-use planning process and promote digitalization in the construction planning process. Faster construction and planning of buildings should make it easier to realize private and public investments. "This law will speed up the construction and planning of housing...

The disagreement between the coalition parties over changes to the Building Energy Act (GEG) has weakened the confidence of many citizens in the heating transition. This is the view of Florian Becker, Managing Director of the Building Owners' Protection Association (BSB). He believes that there is confusion and uncertainty among consumers who are looking for efficient and sustainable solutions for their properties. The government has...

The federal government is providing 200 million euros for climate adaptation in urban areas. Cities and municipalities have until Friday, 15 September to submit their projects for the targeted development and modernization of parks, green spaces and open spaces for the federal programme "Adaptation of urban areas to climate change". The federal program aims to improve the urban climate and is...

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft aims to promote the circular economy by introducing so-called Circonomy® hubs. These networks, spread throughout Germany, aim to develop systemic and technical solutions for sustainable production and consumption. They bring together stakeholders from science, business, associations and society to create a specific...

A flood devastated large areas of Bavaria in 2013, including the Fischerdorf district of Deggendorf, where the water rose up to four meters high. Two weeks after the disaster, more than 500 victims met in the Deggendorf town hall, most of them from Fischerdorf. The residents, still exhausted from the disaster, shared harrowing stories of flooded streets,...

The consumer protection association Wohnen im Eigentum (WiE) has once again criticized the plans of the Federal Ministry of Justice (BMJ) to require a 3/4 majority to hold online owners' meetings. This would undermine owners' rights. Despite headwinds, the BMJ has presented a draft that is intended to facilitate such purely digital meetings. The planned changes stipulate that...

The legal implications of building acceptance should not be underestimated by builders. The Bauherren-Schutzbund points this out in an article. This is a decisive milestone in the construction process. The client confirms that the work is essentially complete and free of defects. This confirmation marks the end of the contract fulfillment stage and...

Together with partners, the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA has developed a bivalent furnace that can switch flexibly between electricity and gas, thereby reducing energy costs in the production of castings. The innovative approach is designed to enable companies to react to fluctuations in electricity prices and manage their energy supply more efficiently.

Innovative online kitchen planners offer consumers a quick and realistic way to visualize their dream kitchen and have long since replaced hand-drawn sketches. "Buying a new fitted kitchen must have been a matter of absolute trust in the past," says Volker Irle, Managing Director of AMK - Arbeitsgemeinschaft Die Moderne Küche. Whereas in the past...