What caught our eye - three key stories
Building regs backlash in Germany; all swans are black in the dark; 20s plenty?
Here are three stories that we found particularly interesting this week and why. We also give our lateral thought on each one.
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Building regs backlash in Germany.
German Housing Minister Klara Geywitz, Finance Minister Christian Lindner and a number of other senior cabinet members of the German coalition have expressed their concern about potential revisions to the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), which would include mandatory renovations for buildings with the worst energy performance.
The German government is currently targeting excessive regulation and red tape, blaming EU regulation for stifling the German economy.
There is an interesting balance. The built environment is important from a decarbonisation perspective (40% of energy-related GHG emissions), a resources perspective (40% of global raw materials), and particularly when we focus on ongoing operations, a cost of living (and hence social) perspective.