The TU Berlin would need 2.4 billion euros for the necessary construction and renovation measures. © Schöning /IMAGO
Around 74 billion euros have to be invested in German universities for renovation and modernisation. All eyes are on the federal government – probably also because the states lack the money.
This analysis is IPPEN. MEDIA in the course of a cooperation with the Research.Table Professional Briefing – first published by Research.Table on June 01, 2023.
Most university buildings in Germany are 50 years or older. Many urgently need to be modernized and brought up to date in terms of energy. But university construction is a snail. There is a lack of money and skilled personnel, and the processes associated with construction projects are complex and lengthy.
In spring 2022, a position paper by the German Council of Science and Humanities estimated the need for renovation at universities in Germany at 60 billion euros. The figure was based on on-site assessments from 2011 to 2021. The sum has increased significantly since then. "According to the latest calculations, inflation and further deterioration of the building fabric mean that around 74 billion euros will have to be raised for renovations and modernisations," says Ulf Richter, Chancellor of the University of Siegen and spokesman for the University Construction Working Group of the Association of Chancellors of German Universities. This as yet unpublished result was presented at the meeting of the working group last week. "The increase scared me, but I think the sum is plausible," he says.
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It's not just the universities that look to the federal government
The amount should actually be raised by the federal states, because they are responsible for university construction. "This mammoth task will not be accomplished without the help of the federal government," says Richter. Other stakeholders are also looking to the federal government when it comes to university renovation:
- In a guest article for Table.Media, the new president of the German Rectors' Conference, Walter Rosenthal, believes that a "basic consensus of all parties and decision-making levels in the federal and state governments is needed" that the resolution of the renovation backlog and the sustainability turnaround at universities is a "nationwide challenge" (see point of view).
- In its 2022 position paper, the German Council of Science and Humanities advised examining which opportunities for cooperation between the federal and state governments could be better exploited, especially with regard to the Sustainable Development Goals. The basis should be Article 91b of the Basic Law, which regulates the interaction between the federal government and the states in cases of supra-regional importance.
- Something is now happening at the federal and state levels. An ad hoc working group of the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (KMK) is currently preparing "an exchange with the federal government on future cooperation in the field of 'university construction and sustainability'," a spokesman said on request. At the next KMK on 22/23 June, this should be discussed.
- In a recent article for the magazine Forschung & Lehre, Green Party politician Kai Gehring, chairman of the Bundestag Research Committee, also spoke out in favour of a federal-state programme that provides incentives for the climate-neutral modernisation of universities and research institutions.
Universities in Germany: "Too long to wear and tear"
The immense need for renovation is mainly due to the education offensive in the sixties and seventies. "In order to enable broader sections of the population to receive academic education, many places have been enlarged and newly founded. In North Rhine-Westphalia alone, five comprehensive universities have been established," says Ulf Richter. All these buildings had been driven to wear and tear for too long, now at the end of their life cycle and thus ripe for a core renovation.
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Take Berlin, for example: In the capital, the need for renovation is now 8.2 billion euros. This was the result of calculations by the company Rheform on behalf of the State Conference of Rectors and Presidents of 13 Berlin universities. One of the institutions that has been particularly hard hit is the TU Berlin (TUB). "We would need 2.4 billion euros for the necessary construction and renovation measures," says Lars Oeverdieck, Chancellor of the TUB. The deficiencies are elementary: he cites leaking roofs, defective electrical cables, weakening ventilation systems and tightened fire protection as examples. "Several building complexes are threatened with closure, one building is already closed." Oeverdieck also believes it is necessary to bring other partners, such as the federal government, on board in order to resolve the renovation backlog. "The state of Berlin alone is overwhelmed by this."
University construction currently entails a large number of coordination loops and is regulated slightly differently in each federal state. In most cases, the respective Ministry of Science and Finance is involved, sometimes also the Ministry of Construction. "In some federal states, individual construction measures are even discussed several times in parliament," says Jana Stibbe, who deals with higher education infrastructure at the HIS Institute for Higher Education Development (HIS-HE). "We lose an incredible amount of time in many places due to the highly complex processes," says Richter.
"Unfortunately, renovating is not as sexy as building a new one"
There is no shortage of ideas for leaner processes.
- The building owner status could be located at the universities instead of at the state construction companies. This would reduce the number of voting loops.
- Flexible construction budgets would give universities the opportunity to carry out planning and implementation on their own responsibility. The principle is already being practiced in Hesse as part of the Heureka university construction programme, which is considered exemplary, and occasionally at other universities.
- Renovations could also be faster and easier if there were lump sums for the preservation of existing buildings in the state budgets, as in Baden-Württemberg, for example. "Such a lump sum has the advantage that renovations do not compete with new construction projects," says Jana Stibbe.
Ultimately, appreciation is also required. "Unfortunately, renovating is not as sexy as building a new one," says Richter. He would like politicians to visit universities in the future not only when there is a new building to be inaugurated there, but also when a reopening is pending after a core renovation. (By Anne Brüning)