Germany

policies

The German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture has published the Charter for Wood 2.0 which advocates for the sustainable use of wood. The ‘Using wood in urban and rural construction’ section of the documents aims to increase the share of wooden buildings in the various building categories, renovations and curb the prejudice against wood in key regulations as well as guidelines.
In November 2020, the Energy Conservation Act (EnEG), the Energy Conservation Ordinance (EnEV) and the Renewable Energies Heat Act (EEWärmeG) were merged into one law: the Building Energy Act (GEG) (Gebäudeenergiegesetz GEG), a single, coordinated body of legislation regulating energy performance of new construction, existing building stock and the use of renewable energy for heating and cooling buildings.

In the region of Baden Wuttenberrg, the state government is promoting climate-friendly wood construction through The Timber Construction Campaign (Holzbauoffensive). The project includes targeted measures to stimulate sustainable construction. The goal is to establish Baden-Württemberg as a leader in climate-friendly building practices.
In Heilbronn, as part of a new residential quarter, Skaio Germany’s tallest wooden structure was built for the Federal Garden Show 2019 (Bundesgartenschau). This 34-metre, 10-storey residential development houses 60 apartments and is a flagship project (Leuchtturmprojekt) that promotes research and development, to increase confidence in mass timber low carbon construction.

On January 1st, 2020, the city of Freiburg introduced the Timber Construction Funding Programme (Förderprogramm Holzbau) to promote the use of renewable raw materials in the construction sector. Applications can be submitted for new wooden buildings with a minimum size of four residential units and also for extensions to residential units. The amount of the subsidy is 1€/kg of renewable, carbon-storing building material installed in the building over the long term, or €1.20 where the material is sourced within 400km from Freiburg.

In Hamburg, the Modernisation of non-residential buildings programme (Bundesförderung für effiziente Gebäude – Nichtwohngebäude) provides a subsidy of 0.80€ per kg of wood used in the construction of new, non-residential buildings. Since the adoption of the climate plan in 2019, every new construction project must examine the viability of using timber. The state Schleswig Holstein initiated a timber construction prize with the objective of promoting the use of timber within construction.

In Munich, the pilot project Prinz-Eugen-Park, with 566 apartments, is currently the largest timber housing estate in Germany. Eight individual projects, ranging from timber hybrid to pure timber construction, were built on five sites within Prinz-Eugen-Park, representing a wide variety of housing types, timber construction methods and design variations. The project is supported by the city of Munich, who are providing a financial incentive of up to 2€/kg of renewable materials used in the construction.
The city continues to promote sustainable urban development. More information can be found here: Prinz-Eugen-Park – Landeshauptstadt München (muenchen.de).