Serial building refurbishment as an opportunity for climate protection and the regional economy

Hanover, November 23, 2022:"In view of our ambitious climate targets, we need to triple the pace of refurbishment, and energy-efficient building refurbishment is an important component of this. I therefore welcome the joint initiative to promote serial refurbishment as a future trend," saidAnja Ritschel, Head of Economicand Environmental Affairsof the State Capital of Hanover, in her address to the participants at Sparkasse Hannover.

At the conference with numerous manufacturers and service providers from the region as well as participants from various housing associations, UweBigalke, an expert from the German Energy Agency dena, also explained the political strategy as well as the new possibilities and opportunities surrounding serial refurbishment: "We currently lack the rapid scalability of refurbishment projects in the construction industry, and serial refurbishment can close this gap."

Following the presentations, the participants clarified in two different working groups how the supply and demand sides need to position themselves for implementation in order to get started as quickly as possible. The event was jointly organized by hannoverimpuls, Sparkasse Hannover and Klimaschutzagentur Region Hannover - together they want to make the city and region of Hannover a pioneer for Lower Saxony in this refurbishment method, which represents a huge opportunity for the regional economy. "On the one hand, the refurbishment work takes significantly less time on site if this technology is planned precisely and carefully in advance, and on the other hand, the building is climate-neutral in operation once the refurbishment is complete - with a well-insulated façade, photovoltaic system on the roof and a heating system with a heat pump, explains Anja Floetenmeyer-Woltmann, Managing Director of the Hannover Region Climate Protection Agency. "Medium-sized craft businesses, for example in the timber industry, and regional service providers as suppliers would have full order books again," adds DorisPetersen, Managing Director of hannoverimpuls,explaining the economic potential and numerous positive effects.

State-of-the-art technology is used to create a 3D scan of the buildings concerned - for example, social housing - during serial refurbishment. The overall image is used to create a model, a digital twin of the property, so that entire façade parts including windows and doors as well as roof elements with photovoltaic elements can be prefabricated in the factory and then simply assembled on the actual construction site. The process has already been tried and tested many times in other countries such as the Netherlands and France and delivers top results faster than before. Thanks to existing funding programs and promotional loans from KfW and BAFA as well as existing and new regional funding opportunities, refurbishment is not only made easier, but also affordable and can be implemented on a large scale. "We are already working on pilot projects at the location, because serial refurbishment gives us the chance to achieve the climate targets more quickly. Cities like Cologne and Bochum have already shown the way," explains HagenRaddatz, Head of Project Development at hanova WOHNEN GmbH.

The kick-off conference at Sparkasse Hannover is to be followed by further rounds of talks in order to gain momentum in the coming years with this innovative method, which is significantly faster than conventional on-site refurbishment: For climate protection and the regional economy. "For us, sustainability also means promoting initiatives that pursue the same goals as we do," says co-organizer MarinaBarth, Deputy Chairwoman of the Board of Sparkasse Hannover.