Author: Johannes Kreißig

Group photo of the DGNB Community in China with DGNB CEO Johannes Kreißig

Reunion of the DGNB Community in China at CADE EXPO 2023 (BAU China)

At this year’s BAU China, the DGNB returned to the stage of the China Architectural Design Exhibition (CADE) EXPO 2023 in Shanghai. At the DGNB China Community Meeting on 4 August, the network met again for the first time since the start of the pandemic. In addition to many news about the development of the DGNB in Germany, there was a panel discussion on the added value of certified buildings and districts, best practices from China and an outlook on wishes and plans for the German-Chinese collaboration.

Rathaus Freiburg Dachflächen PV

An important start: mandatory photovoltaics in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg

As of 2022, all non-residential buildings in Baden-Wuerttemberg that apply for planning permission will be obliged to install photovoltaic (PV) units on a roof area suitable for solar energy systems. This applies to everything from production halls to supermarkets and office buildings. The new requirement was agreed recently by the state government. The DGNB welcomes this move, which it sees as a step in the right direction. All levers now need to be pulled to meet the 2050 climate protection goals. Naturally, this includes the use of solar energy – and there are many more options.

An expensive attempt at image cultivation? Five facts showing why that’s not the point of a DGNB certificate

An expensive attempt at image cultivation? Five facts showing why that’s not the point of a DGNB certificate

Once a year, the German Taxpayers Federation (BdSt) publishes its ‘Schwarzbuch’ containing examples of what it considers to be wasteful uses of tax revenues by government departments. The current edition names the DGNB certification system as one such example, under the heading of ‘Expensive Image Cultivation’. This leads us to question whether the selection and research methods used by the authors were as thorough as they should be. In this case at least, it shows that judgement was handed down without understanding the subject in the necessary depth. So here in the blog – with the necessary brevity of the format – we present the most important reasons why certification is actually worth it.