The Center for Applied Energy Research (CAE) in Würzburg and other project participants are currently developing a system called "RENbuild" for the combined regenerative supply of buildings with fresh air, cooling and electricity. The RENbuild system consists of hybrid collectors, a high-performance heat/cold storage tank, a heat pump system and a building automation system. According to...

In Berlin, land may not be used as a so-called container park where tenants live in caravans, for example. This has now been decided by the Berlin Administrative Court (VG 13 L 325/22 and others). In one of the cases in question, an operator had set up and rented out containers on a 4,000 square meter plot of land in Treptow-Köpenick without permission. The rental costs...

If you want to add copper accents to your apartment or house, you can place small bowls or vases on a bookshelf or windowsill, for example. The livingathome.de portal points this out in its article "Living trend copper: highlights for the home". If residents choose untreated copper, different shades of color will develop over time. The reason for this...

Paying high rents and repaying loans is a burden for more and more Germans. As a result, 12 percent of 12,000 respondents are planning to move for financial reasons. These are the findings of a joint analysis by the ifo Institute and Immowelt. The respondents could theoretically save costs, for example, by moving from the usually expensive city to the often cheaper...

The Construction Circular Economy Initiative under the auspices of the German Building Materials Association recently published a new monitoring report with figures on the generation and fate of mineral construction waste. According to Dr. Matthias Frederichs, Managing Director of the German Building Materials Association, "mineral construction waste is now almost completely...

The energy advice service of the consumer advice center provides tips on how owners and tenants can prevent the formation of mould through correct heating and ventilation. After showering, cooking or sleeping, the property should first be completely aired out. Afterwards, the energy advice from the consumer advice center recommends leaving the windows open for two to three...

A meadow orchard in Berlin-Johannisthal/Adlershof must make way for a school building. This was decided by the Berlin Administrative Court (VG 24 L 36/23). In this case, a community school is to be built on an approximately 3.5-hectare plot of land that is currently home to a meadow orchard. According to the Federal Nature Conservation Act, meadow orchards are protected biotopes that cannot be...

In addition to people in need of care who are cared for at home, nursing home residents can also apply for housing benefit. The NRW consumer advice center points this out. Many people are not aware of this. However, if nursing home residents wish to apply for housing benefit, they must observe special regulations. For example, the entitlement to housing benefit is not based on the individual rent amount, but on the...

The Cologne Institute for Economic Research (IW Köln) has found out more about the "New challenges for home ownership" on behalf of Deutsche Reihenhaus AG. One of the findings of the study was that fewer and fewer Germans are able to afford home ownership. While a couple with a net income of 3,730 euros (median income household) was able to afford...

A new design strategy for processing medium manganese steel with improved properties has now been developed by a research team, mainly from China's Northeastern University and the Max Planck Institute for Iron Research (MPIE) in Düsseldorf. During development, the research team took into account the fact that steels now not only have to be sustainable, strong and formable, but...