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Resource-Conserving Use of the Stock of Residential Buildings to Reduce Absolute Demand in the “Construction and Housing” Area of Need

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Factor X

Part of the book series: Eco-Efficiency in Industry and Science ((ECOE,volume 30))

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Abstract

An extension in the useful life of products leads in many consumption areas to improved resource efficiency. This strategic approach of extended useful life runs counter, however, to established consumer behaviour in some areas. In the construction and housing area of need, there are significant resource-conserving potentials: As a rule, housing need can be satisfied with greater resource efficiency through using the housing stock instead of building new houses. This chapter describes the general societal conditions and political measures, with the aid of which potentials for savings in raw materials, land and CO2 emissions can be exploited in Germany. The author also advocates a strategic “construction and housing” hierarchy, analogous to the so-called waste hierarchy (“reduce, reuse, recycle”) or the strategic orientation discussed in traffic policy (“avoid, shift and shape in an environment-compatible manner”), which should be considered in decision-making processes.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The following Chap. 13 by Keßler/Knappe deals in greater detail with this topic.

  2. 2.

    In addition, the multiplicity of building products as well as their ecobalances and effects on human health introduce further relevant aspects into the debate.

  3. 3.

    Non-metal, mineral raw materials include sand, gravel, clay, limestone, natural stone and gypsum. Around 5.5 million tonnes of construction steel are also of relevance to the German balance.

  4. 4.

    For example, around 1.6 kg of resources are expended in the manufacture of a CD (UBA 2010b, p. 3).

  5. 5.

    It is therefore more resource-conserving, for example, to use mobile phones for several years, rather than to acquire a new phone with every new service contract (cf. Tagesschau 2011).

  6. 6.

    Life Cycle Assessments show that a modern, efficient refrigerator of the energy efficiency class A++ justifies replacement and recycling of a 10-year old, still-functioning appliance (cf. Rüdenauer und Gensch 2007, pp. 4–5).

  7. 7.

    Ecological efficiency of a product and the social effects of its manufacture often play no relevant role, or just a secondary role, in the purchasing decisions of consumers. Technical equipment or clothing, for example, is more frequently replaced than is necessary. Product novelties, new functions and, in particular, social trends supposedly arouse new consumer needs. “Consumerism feeds on recognition structures and the concept of the good life: a belief and lifestyle that characterise western societies, which are manifested in the notion that identity, status, happiness, purpose and social integration are coupled with the consumption of goods and options. This consumerism, which is not bound to individual consumer goods, is diametrically opposed to the sufficiency strategy” (Stengel 2011, p. 27, original in German).

  8. 8.

    For a definition of sufficiency (and distinction from efficiency and consistency) see Sect. 3.

  9. 9.

    For the reference scenario, existing trends were extrapolated. It largely represents a “business-as-usual trend” in the construction and housing area (UBA 2004, pp. 130–131).

  10. 10.

    Here, the total of annual carbon dioxide emissions has been calculated from the construction, maintenance, modernisation and heating of residential buildings as well as from the construction and maintenance of traffic infrastructure, including upstream emissions (UBA 2004, p. 130).

  11. 11.

    By contrast, In 2009, 18 million residential buildings and almost 40.2 million housing units existed in Germany; that was 1.2 million more residential buildings and 1.8 million more housing units than in the year 2000 (Destatis 2010a, pp. 6–13). Moreover, between the beginning of 2001 and the end of 2009 around 430,000 flats were demolished; since 2004, the trend in the annual decrease is noticeably declining (Destatis 2010a, p. 16). According to the Sustainability Scenario, in 2025 there would, on balance, be 5.9 million more housing units than in the year 2000 (Reference Scenario: 6.4 million more housing units than in 2000). The trend in recent years has moved, on balance, not only with regard to the total number of flats but also regarding the decline, in the direction of the Sustainability Scenario.

  12. 12.

    At the same time, it has to be considered “that a declining population development will not alone give rise to a trend reversal in settlement development. It would be a fallacy to expect that the growth in land use for settlements and traffic infrastructure would itself grind to a halt with declining population figures” The ageing of society and the associated growth in demand for living space per person must therefore be included in the forecast (Siedentop 2010, p. 239, original in German). Moreover, the expected increase in the number of households is also relevant (Statistische Ämter des Bundes und der Länder 2007, p. 30).

  13. 13.

    New daily land use therefore decreases solely on “greenfield sites” from about 31 ha per day in the area of construction and housing in the year 2000 to about 27 ha per day by the year 2025 in the Reference Scenario, but only to about 5 ha per day in the Sustainability Scenario. “The Sustainability Scenario thus indicates for the “housing” need a perspective for the decoupling of growth in living space and “Greenfield” land use (UBA (Umweltbundesamt) 2004, p. 105, original in German; cf. also UBA 2003). In fact, land use for housing construction decreased up to 2009 to 20 ha (including traffic infrastructure), of which the greater share (about 15 ha) was supposedly on greenfield sites (cf. above).

  14. 14.

    On the relationship between resource protection as well as raw material and energy efficiency and the reduction in land use, see also Penn-Bressel 2013.

  15. 15.

    The German Advisory Council on the Environment (SRU), which has advised the federal government since 1971, points to the fact that precise environmental objectives should actually be in the focus of attention, and that although the triad of strategies represents “important elements”, “objective and means” should not be confused (SRU 2005, p. 121).

  16. 16.

    The housing need is closely connected with basic physical needs such as sleep, warmth and safety, and also comprises relevant aspects of extended human needs such as private sphere, status, independence, individuality as well as room for freedom of personal development and creativity.

  17. 17.

    Efficiency is improved by input/output ratio. Sufficiency is the reduction of action that harms the environment. Consistency is an alternative form of economic management, for example, substitution (cf. Kleinhückelkotten 2005, pp. 53–55).

  18. 18.

    This has been a “kind of principle” of sustainable spatial and urban development policy in Germany since the 1980s (Siedentop 2010, p. 235). It is also meaningful in terms of traffic policy considerations (shorter distances), and is urgently required concerning demographic change and the high infrastructure costs that are to be expected as a consequence (Siedentop 2010, p. 237).

  19. 19.

    On measures for optimised land use cf. Penn-Bressel 2013.

  20. 20.

    Extensive energy-efficient refurbishment is in some cases not worthwhile, as a building will only still be used (e.g. because of the demographic development) for a few years. Technical optimisation of existing heating systems or optimised heat management could, for instance, bring about a meaningful increase in efficiency with acceptable effort.

  21. 21.

    cf. on this topic also Penn-Bressel 2013.

  22. 22.

    http://www.folgekostenrechner.was-kostet-mein-baugebiet.de

  23. 23.

    Penn-Bressel (2013) deals in greater detail with long-term regional population development and consequential construction measures for residential buildings in Germany in the course of recent decades and in the future.

  24. 24.

    Here, 474 questionnaires were evaluated. Random sample: age spectrum from 19 to 48 years, average age 24.0 years, 68% women and 32% men (Kirschbaum and Schuster 2008, p. 201).

  25. 25.

    In this context, it has to be considered that in Germany “single-family house” and “property ownership” have virtually become synonyms. “In countries with high rates of property ownership it is shown that also younger and economically less potent households become property owners. This leads automatically to a greater range of properties for sale (e.g. small and modest flats). In contrast to this, the equation of single-family house and property ownership is typical for Germany, whereby the preference for property ownership can hardly be distinguished from that for the single-family house. On the basis of this ambiguity, there is room for the hypothesis that families turn to property ownership because there are no rented flats suitable for families. The underdeveloped single-family-house rental market, in particular, would then be a ‘home ownership driver’” (empirica 2009, p. 14, original in German).

  26. 26.

    Since Germany is the EU country with the highest share of tenants (44%) – by contrast, in the 27EU member States as a whole an average of 26% rent their homes (both figures for 2008) (Eurostat 2010a, b, p. 332) – the so-called investor-user dilemma and the housing market situation are here particularly significant. This means that in Germany the motivation of landlords to invest in refurbishment and modernisation of residential property is presumably highly dependent on the housing market, while in countries with high rates of property ownership large numbers of owner-occupiers should have a personal and also financial interest in regular maintenance and modernisation of their properties.

    Where there is a strong demand for flats, even “hovels” are rented, and if supply is greater than demand one might have a competitive advantage with a modernised flat. It is questionable, however, whether capital investment can be recovered by means of comparatively higher rent. An investigation on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Traffic, Building and Urban Development (BMVBS) and the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning (BBR) showed “that according to private landlords 40% of flats today in eastern German cities in cannot be offered at a cost-covering rent” (Schätzl 2007, p. 102, original in German).

    In 2006, more rented flats than owner-occupied flats were categorised as in need of refurbishment (assessment in each case by the head of household). It can be presumed from this that owner-occupiers invested more regularly in modernisation and refurbishment than landlords: “Housing is often more highly valued by owners, which on the whole leads to greater investment in property maintenance and improvement” (Destatis et al. 2008 p. 228, original in German).

  27. 27.

    “From DIW housing construction volume in 2004 of around 129 million euros, 57% was for investment in existing buildings and 43% for investment in new construction. This great importance of investment in existing buildings in Germany will probably continue in the coming years, since in new housing construction no fundamental recovery is to be expected due to the demand situation. For this reason, investment in housing stock plays an important role, also with regard to employment, construction activity and housing supply” (Schätzl 2007, p. 99, original in German).

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Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my colleagues Gertrude Penn-Bressel, Til Bolland, Maike Buttler, Nataly Jürges and Stefanie Götze for their valuable advice on earlier versions of this article.

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  1. Section III 2.2 Resource Conservation, Material Cycles, Minerals and Metal Industry, German Federal Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt), Wörlitzer Platz 1, 06844, Dessau-Roßlau, Germany

    Julia Verlinden

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Correspondence to Julia Verlinden .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Umweltbundesamt, UBA, Sustainable Production and Products, The Federal Environment Agency, Wörlitzer Platz 1, Dessau-Roßlau, 06844, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany

    Michael Angrick

  2. Umweltbundesamt, UBA, Economic and Social Envir. Issues, The Federal Environment Agency, Wörlitzer Platz 1, Dessau-Roßlau, 06844, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany

    Andreas Burger

  3. Umweltbundesamt, UBA, Environmental Planning and Sustainabilit, The Federal Environment Agency, Wörlitzer Platz 1, Dessau-Roßlau, 06844, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany

    Harry Lehmann

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Verlinden, J. (2013). Resource-Conserving Use of the Stock of Residential Buildings to Reduce Absolute Demand in the “Construction and Housing” Area of Need. In: Angrick, M., Burger, A., Lehmann, H. (eds) Factor X. Eco-Efficiency in Industry and Science, vol 30. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5712-7_12

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