German Federal Environment Agency
2022 – 2023
Approaches for reconciling climate and monument protection
Even heritage buildings can contribute to climate protection. In a study commissioned by the German Federal Environment Agency, we analyzed areas of conflict, identified fields of action and discussed possible solutions to better combine monument protection and climate protection. There is potential for improvement in the legal framework and funding landscape, among other areas.
While monument protection serves to preserve the cultural heritage, climate protection aims to protect the natural basis of life. Two important concerns that often seem incompatible: a solar installation changes the appearance of buildings that are worth preserving, while renovation leads to the loss of historical building materials. However, an unrenovated building is energy-intensive and is associated with high CO2 emissions. An unsolvable conflict?
The Federal Environment Agency wanted to investigate this issue. Acknowledging that around a third of historical buildings in Germany are at risk or in urgent need of renovation, it commissioned intep to investigate the compatibility of climate protection and monument conservation. In order to analyze the need for action at the federal, state and local levels, the legal framework, the key players, the funding landscape, planning and execution in the construction project as well as other aspects such as standards and guidelines were to be considered. The project was carried out in collaboration with our advisory board member Prof. Dr.-Ing. Natalie Eßig.
As part of the short study “Climate protection in listed buildings” (German), we found that for historical buildings to be preserved, they also remain economically viable in the future. High-quality energy-efficient renovations are increasingly essential due to rising fossil fuel costs. Climate protection benefits from this as it saves building materials and embodied energy that would otherwise be used for new construction.
The challenge: Conflicts between monument preservation and climate protection have so far mostly been negotiated at the level of the individual refurbishment project. Solutions are needed at a higher level. Promising approaches include an equal weighting of climate and monument protection in the legal framework, improved approval practices, sensitization of owners and multi-stakeholder dialogues. To further develop these approaches, the goals of climate protection and monument preservation must be better coordinated at all levels.
We look forward to receiving your detailed application documents with a letter of motivation to bewerbung@intep.com or simply via this form:
