Climate-Friendly Buildings: Why We Need New Measures

What do we do with the enormous CO₂ backpack that buildings already carry? And what impact will the currently more tightened climate targets have on the building sector? We spoke with Björn Brecht, Head of Product Management at Kieback&Peter. We have a long-standing partnership with the building automation company. 

• The CO₂ emissions savings gap has once again increased considerably as a result of the new climate targets. That will be 34 million tons of CO₂ per year. What is the savings gap and what does it mean for real estate?

Legislators are working on many fronts to motivate us as citizens, entrepreneurs and as organizations to invest in achieving climate targets. For CO₂ savings, the year 1990 is considered the baseline. Percentage savings are always based on emissions in that year. With the ratification of the Paris climate agreement, Germany has committed itself to introducing measures to achieve the climate targets and has adopted a CO₂ reduction roadmap accordingly. There are regular milestones up to the year 2050. 2020 was one such target.

As could be seen from many publications, the target was not achieved as planned, especially in the building sector. A next milestone is set for 2030. If the savings path achieved between 1990 and 2020 is extended linearly to 2030, there is a huge savings gap of several million metric tons of CO₂, which becomes even larger with the current goal of climate neutrality in 2045 and continues in subsequent years. So there is still a lot to do.

In concrete terms, this means that we need to increase the momentum with which we have reduced CO₂ emissions over the past 30 years. It is not enough to do a little more of the known and proven measures. We need to implement fundamentally different measures. Many techniques and technologies for this have long been available. However, they are still too rarely used at present.

The momentum with which we have reduced CO2 emissions over the past 30 years must be significantly increased. Fundamentally different measures are needed to achieve this. Technologies for this have long been available and should be used much more widely.

Björn Brecht

Kieback&Peter, Head of Product Management

• What are two or three of your daily challenges as Head of Product Management at Kieback&Peter?

We have 50 locations in 11 countries where we market products and implement individual solutions for our customers. We provide an extensive portfolio for this purpose. We invest a lot in the development of our products. For this purpose, initiatives have to be accompanied and decisions prepared and made on a daily basis. We also have to adapt to the changing requirements of our customers. Whereas in the past the focus was on the management of buildings, today everything revolves around the reduction of CO₂ emissions and ESG-compliant building operation.

• Last but not least, how do you motivate others around you to live more sustainably?

"Living sustainably" is too big of a term. Economic cycles are so complex and interconnected that we don't fully grasp them. Personally, I orient myself to a few basic certainties. This is most visible in my mobility behavior. I get around town by public transport and bicycle. I don't use airplanes for destinations in Germany. Otherwise, I try to use products as long as possible. Whether this is enough to motivate others, I dare not say. But every contribution in the right direction is immensely important and can potentially make a difference. 

• Thank you for the insightful interview!