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3. Energy-Conscious Planning and Zoning
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3.1       Overview

In 2005, approximately 872 million tons of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide were generated in the Federal Republic of Germany, further burdening our global climate. Of the 77 million tons that were generated in the state of Baden-Württemberg, 25% originated from powerplants, 31% from households (particularly from heating), 14% from industry, and 30% from traffic. Since household heating produces other pollutants besides carbon dioxide, in the future an important goal of planning must be energy conservation. Conservation options should not, however, be limited solely to better insulation for new buildings and the renovation of old buildings (ENEV, 2007), but should also include the possibility of energy conserving planning and zoning.

Fully realizing the potential for energy conservation pays for itself in three ways:

  • through decrease in the costs of usage for electrical lighting and building heating,
  • through conservation of energy reserves, and
  • through less pollution of the environment.

This statement is both an appeal and a program at the same time. On 7 November 1990 the German federal government declared its intention to reduce energy-generated carbon dioxide releases (CO2 emissions) relative to 1987 levels by 25% before 2005 in the former West Germany and even greater in the former East Germany. This resulted from the report of the German Parliament’s ENQUETE-COMMISSION (1990) on "Precautions for the Protection of Earth’s Atmosphere." The international aim was fixed by the Kyoto Protocol. The green house gases should be reduced until 2008/ 2012 by 21% relative to 1990.
The imperative necessity of a drastic reduction in CO2 requires decisive modifications to energy policy. It is especially important to fully realize the considerable potential for energy conservation, an important area of which is in building and housing – for example, economical energy concepts for heating, lighting, and electricity (Figure 3/1).

The sole disadvantage of the "energy source" of energy conservation is the negative connotation of the word "conserve." Where there is talk of conservation, one often associates with it the concepts of deficiency and loss of comfort. This does not, however, in any way apply to the topic at hand. At the simplest level, one can see the possibilities for energy conservation with regards to heating energy by means of architectural measures alone.

The provision of spatial heating contributes about 27% of the total CO2 emissions for Germany, including the former East Germany. Reducing this quantity by one-fourth before 2005 seems possible in spite of the necessary amount of new construction (estimated at 175 billion Euro annually), because this goal – in contrast to other energy sectors – can be reached without new technologies; that is, by making use of available building materials and proven techniques for the avoidance of unnecessary energy consumption (BIASIN and DIETRICH, 1992).

Although the improvement of insulation in exterior building components, the thickening of windows and doors, the improvement or replacement of heating units and their controls, and other changes in building conditions are important starting points for energy conservation, the concept of low-energy houses goes beyond the installment of energy-saving building components: In the architecture competition "Wohnen 2000" the central goal was that of understanding better the building as a system that exchanges energy with the environment, thus producing more intelligent planning and execution (BIASIN and DIETRICH, 1992). Of particular concern was so-called passive solar energy use, which uses the heat of the sun to augment building heating, accounting for as much of the necessary heating as possible.

The implementation of such efforts in the area of everyday architecture requires urban planning that takes into consideration issues and problems related to energy (references to which can also be found in BUNZEN et al., 1997).

The legal planning tools for energy-saving building methods, optimized distances between buildings, building orientation, and roof pitch are given in Chapter 6, especially Sections 6.1.4, 6.2.4, and 6.3.2. The legal instrument of the urban development contract (§ 11 BauGB) allows the requirement of low-energy building methods and the realization of heat and energy concepts for entire sets of buildings.

In the realm of meteorological influences pertaining to energy-conscious planning, one must distinguish between large-scale climatic differences (e.g. between the sea coast and the interior highlands) and microclimatic variations that are determined by topography. This small-scale aspect stands in the center of the following sections with respect to the climatic parameters of sun exposure, air temperature, and wind patterns.

Hints to save energie in old buildings you can find in the  impulse program old buildings - "Save energie in old buildings" Landesgewerbeamt Baden Württemberg (http://www.impuls-programm-altbau.de)

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Fig. 3/1: CO2 reduction potential up to the year 2005 (Basis: 1987, 716 million tons CO2, former Federal Republic of Germany), Source: ENQUETE-KOMMISSION, 1990

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