In view of the energy price crisis and the increased demand for stoves and fireplaces, the energy advice service of the consumer advice center has compiled important aspects for dealing with them. For example, it points out that every fireplace must be approved by a chimney sweep. If this is not done, according to the consumer advice center, there is an increased risk of flue gas poisoning and...

The Siegburg district court doubts the accuracy of the 2021 rent index in Troisdorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, and has instead set a different net comparative rent for an apartment with the help of an expert. In this case (case no. 123 C 60/21), a landlord wanted to increase the rent for his 78 square meter maisonette apartment from around 560 euros (7.18 per square meter) to...

Which Christmas colors are on trend this year? The portal schoener-wohnen.de has found out and comes to the conclusion that the color blue in subtle or deep shades is particularly popular. For example, you can choose a tablecloth, napkins or candles in blue-grey or blue-brown tones. If you prefer something a little more daring, you can opt for a...

A good 52 percent of homes in Germany are heated with natural gas. This is according to the 2021 consumption data study by energy service provider Techem. The study analyzed data on final energy and water consumption as well as the costs for heating and hot water in 2.1 million German homes in around 176,000 apartment buildings. The study also included more than 90,000...

Anyone thinking about building a house should obtain comprehensive information about it in advance. To ensure that nothing goes wrong with the project, the Bau Praxis portal provides "25 tips for better building for private builders". These range from obtaining "basic factual information" to "checking the ground conditions" and "personal contributions". At the beginning, for example, model houses can be viewed,...

Prof. Dr. Harald Funke and his team at the Department of Aerospace Engineering at FH Aachen - University of Applied Sciences have received the German Gas Industry Innovation Award in the "Efficient Application Technology" category for the co-development of their H2 micro-mix burner, which enables hydrogen to be burned in gas turbines with low emissions, safely and in a CO2-neutral manner. Already in...

A property owner cannot be held responsible for all accidents that happen on her property. This has now been decided by the Frankfurt am Main Higher Regional Court (OLG, Ref. 17 W 17/22). In this case, a neighbor walked across a rain-soaked stone path covered with leaves and branches to the owner's terrace to talk to her. On the way back, she fell and...

The Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) draws attention to the harmful effects of the radioactive gas radon, which can occur in any building. In the study "Recording how the German population deals with radon as a basis for risk communication and strengthening protective behavior" with 3,000 respondents, the Bfs had previously found out that although radon is known, the knowledge...

The risk of a real estate bubble is highest in Frankfurt am Main, Zurich and Munich after Toronto. This is the result of a study by the major Swiss bank UBS. According to UBS, real estate prices in Frankfurt am Main have more than doubled in nominal terms. Between mid-2021 and mid-2022, however, growth in the two cities was only around 5 percent. The major Swiss bank...

Reducing dependence on raw material imports and strengthening domestic raw material production - this is what the German Construction Industry Federation (HDB) and the German Building Materials Association (bbs) call for in their joint position paper "Ensuring security of supply of raw materials, building materials and energy - further increasing resource efficiency". The associations fear that...