Climate protection and sustainability: Word is spreading that buildings play a crucial role, as they are responsible for 35% of global energy consumption. The carbon dioxide emissions they cause are currently continuing to rise by around 1% per year (source: International Energy Agency). It is clear that structural and/or technical measures are needed to change this standard development path. New construction and renovations that continue to be of the usual poor quality, implemented on a large scale, can actually exacerbate the problem. To this end, it must first be clarified which measures contribute to emissions and to what extent. This is one reason why we have revisited the topic of life cycles. Many questions arise: Is “gray energy” more important than operating energy? Does thermal insulation really save CO2 over its life cycle? Or: How much efficiency is good enough? Should we focus on renovation or would it be better to build new? Is building with wood as a carbon sink a solution, and if so, how much does it contribute? We often hear people say, “Energy will soon be renewable—we'll do that by expanding PV and wind power, and then it won't matter how much we consume, right?” The PHI has thoroughly examined all these questions from a methodological perspective, using life cycle assessments to arrive at a correct evaluation. It has then derived statements on the key priorities from this. Some of the results are surprising: Read for yourself!

Jahr	Autor	Beitrag
24	Wolfgang Feist	Introduction: Life cycle, balance sheet, sustainability
24	Rainer Vallentin	CO2 Global budget for buildings How we can build our way out of the energy and climate crisis
24	Magdalena Patyna	Time frame in building life cycle assessments according to DIN EN 15978
24	Benjamin Krick	Methodology – Manufacturing energy, embodied energy, operating energy
24	Wolfgang Feist und Witta Ebel	Life cycle assessments: Methods, criteria and data (availability) for assessment
24	Benjamin Krick	Manufacturing energy – where does it come from? Investigation using the example of renovation, solid construction, and timber construction
24	Felix Konrad	The manufacturing phase of insulation materials – cradle-to-gate
24	Joachim Reinhardt und Corvin Veith	Thermal insulation: reuse and effects on construction practice
24	Peter Schubert	Building and insulating with straw
24	Benjamin Krick	Improvement of building envelope and building construction
24	Wolfgang Feist	Energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions over the life cycle