Local stakeholder meeting in County Bergstraße (Feb. 2024)
Circular construction in a circular economy is worthwhile for environmental reasons – but can it also bring financial benefits? This was one of the topics discussed by the Bergstraße partners, during their local KARMA stakeholder meeting on the 28th February 2024.
Based on a successful example from the district of Viersen on the Lower Rhine, which was presented by the head of building management, Jörg Papenkort, the participants discussed whether sustainable construction could also be valuable in economic terms. The construction of the County archive (“Kreisarchiv”) was realised according to the principles of circular value creation and is therefore unique in Germany.
By selecting sustainable, unmixed building materials and planning a building that can be dismantled, the materials would then take part in the raw materials cycle after dismantling. Good news being that the residual value of the materials and raw materials, the energy and maintenance costs and the CO2 savings are included in the calculation. This holistic approach shows that, despite higher initial construction costs, the costs over the life cycle of the building are more favourable than with a conventional construction method.
The County Bergstraße has similar plans within the KARMA project: The construction of a new STEM education centre is planned according to these circular and sustainable standards and will be implemented as a pilot project for circular construction. It is an excellent way of approaching the topic and gaining experience. District Administrator Christian Engelhardt: "We want to start changing the construction sector on a small scale and find many imitators with our pilot project. After all, the circular economy is a forward-looking concept, both in terms of how we use our natural resources and for climate protection.”
PHOTO (from left to right): Felix Berbner (University Darmstadt), Benjamin Kraff (TU Darmstadt), Regina Berlinger (TU Darmstadt), Katharina Wilkin (County Bergstraße, Project manager of KARMA), Corinna Simeth (County Bergstraße, Head of the Policy and District Development Department), Sascha Bocksnick (ZAKB GmbH, Technical Managing Director), Prof. Anke Wollbrink (University Darmstadt), Johannes Kühn (Technical manager of the school and building management company), Marian Fromm (State Energy Agency of Hesse) and Benjamin Frank (County Bergstraße, Financial Manager).
Author: Benjamin and Katharina (County Bergstrasse)