As of: March 14, 2024, 9:25 p.m
By: Tadhg Nagel
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The EU building guidelines are to be implemented in public buildings.
Hubert Aiwanger thinks this is wrong.
Are the investments unnecessary?
Munich - Bavaria's Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger (FW) has criticized the planned implementation of the new EU regulations for climate protection and building renovation.
Above all, the plans of Federal Construction Minister Klara Geywitz (SPD) to begin implementing the directive in schools and hospitals met with Aiwanger's incomprehension.
Is that justified?
The European Parliament approved new renovation requirements on Tuesday (March 12).
These are intended to help ensure that the EU can meet its climate goals.
In addition to the requirements for private residential buildings, whose energy consumption should fall by an average of 16 percent by 2030 and then by 20 to 22 percent by 2035, non-inhabited buildings are also affected.
According to the plans, 16 percent of the least energy-efficient buildings of this type will have to be renovated by 2030.
By 2033, 26 percent of uninhabited buildings should be renovated.
The EU member states still have to approve the law.
Hubert Aiwanger (FW) railed on X against the implementation of EU building specifications.
© IMAGO/Rolf Poss
No more emergency rooms, but “spend money on Styrofoam” - Aiwanger rails against the construction minister
In addition, the design depends heavily on implementation in the individual member states.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs reported that the need for implementation would be examined.
The Federal Construction Minister pointed out that “the obligation to renovate single-family and multi-family houses has been prevented”.
According to her, coercive measures there led to “social upheavals that cannot be justified by protecting the climate.”
Instead, Geywitz would like to focus primarily on schools, fire stations and hospitals; after all, there is a “huge need” here.
The Bavarian Economics Minister sees it differently.
In a post on the social media platform
He therefore finds it incomprehensible that Geywitz wants to start “compulsory renovation” there.
Adding more costs will result in even more closures.
“Close the emergency department and obstetrics due to deficits, but spend money on Styrofoam?
Order from Lauterbach or your own 'smartness'?” asked Aiwanger polemically.
He received a lot of support for this on X;
rightly?
Temperature in the hospital building is important for healing – does traffic light rescue come too late?
It is true that many clinics are facing insolvency or are already bankrupt.
And even if the traffic light coalition wanted to tackle the problem with the hospital reform, which is still being blocked by the federal states, the rescue attempt could come too late for many ailing hospitals, as the
ARD “
Tagesschau
”
reported.
Nevertheless, a foundation stone was laid with the Hospital Transparency Act passed by the Bundestag, which received the green light from the Mediation Committee on February 21st.
According to Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD), it enables hospitals nationwide to receive a liquidity injection of six billion euros;
In this way, up to 100 further bankruptcies could have been prevented in 2024 alone.
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But just because hospitals are already short of money doesn't mean that there is no need for investment.
The German Hospital Association (DKG) has long been calling for measures to prepare hospitals for increasingly extreme weather conditions.
Studies have shown that “the right temperature in the hospital building has an influence on the healing process,” as the company’s deputy chairwoman, Prof. Dr.
Henriette Neumeyer, explained on the DKG website.
In addition to the well-being of the patients, it is also about the employees.
After all, they “cannot shift their working hours to cooler hours or go away from the heat”.
Federal states have been investing too little for years – “What use are rotten hospitals to us”?
“For structural reasons, hospitals are often not able to implement sustainable cooling concepts without great effort.”
The buildings often date from the 19th century or the post-war period and have poor thermal insulation.
In addition, “the financing of investment costs by the federal states has not come close to covering the needs for decades,” even though the states are legally obliged to make the necessary investments.
The little money available flows into urgently needed equipment and small construction work.
“However, there is a lack of funds for energy-efficient renovation with optimal building insulation, efficient cooling systems, shading and greenery,” says Neumeyer.
Also the Green politician Dr.
Janosch Dahmen advocates for rapid energy-efficient renovation of hospitals and health facilities.
“What use are rotten hospitals in which people get sicker instead of getting better just because they come there in the summer because it is so hot,” said the health policy spokesman for the Greens in the Bundestag in an interview with the
Ärzte Zeitung.
The debate shows that people are “more afraid of national debt than of broken infrastructure”.
Last but not least, an energy-saving renovation “makes total sense for economic reasons alone”.
Little has been done in this regard in the health sector, so there is “incredible potential”.
(
tpn)