Green Buildings Are Becoming Fashionable

In the land of Hesse municipalities signed an agreement that they would elaborate an action plan to reduce CO2 emmissions and to report regularly on results. It is evident that a lower consumption of energy saves money, but first, the municipalities have to invest and many do not have a budget for this. Why do they make an effort anyway? It is very simple: if you can proof that you have been working on a reduction of emissions, with positive results, you have access to more subsidies from the Government and the EU. The goal is to team up with100 municipalities, so far 55 are on board. Here is the list.

The municipalities want to refurbish residential blocks and public buildings to reduce CO2 emissions. Frankfurt also signed the agreement in 2009. Until 2025 the reducion of CO2 emissions could come to 41%, a huge potential. 

But green buildings are on the list of the European Union already, this is not only a German initiative. On 16 April the European Union awarded the best green buildings.  The prize is for architects that have developed buildings that are ahead of their time. 13 buildings have been awarded in 4 different categories.

More about the Green European Building Programme you can find here.

FM has become a key industry in Germany

At the beginning of the year the first industry report had been published and Germany is still discussing the – even for insiders – astoundingly good news: facility management contributes more to the GNP than any other industry; more than the automobile or chemical industry.

The study had been carried out by the University of Bochum and Professor Markus Thomzik qualifies the FM industry as an important backbone of the German economy, though the figures have been calculated in a really conservative way. The study stressed on the importance for the economic growth rate, while another positive point was left aside: According to the report 4.1 million workers can be appointed to the FM industry. About 3.1 million workers are directly working within the FM service industry, but still another 1.1 million get their salary from it: lawyers, consultants, architects, IT experts, etc.

Now the industry has proof that it is not wise to keep ignoring them.