Federal Building Minister Geywitz visits HNEE

Despite the exam period, more than 100 students and university staff attended the lecture by Federal Minister for Housing, Urban Development and Building Klara Geywitz from the Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Building (BMWSB) in the Wilhelm Pfeil Auditorium at Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development (HNEE). Her presentation and the subsequent discussion centred on the topic of sustainable timber construction.

The minister had previously visited the Leibniz Institute for Spatial Social Research in Erkner to find out about research projects on social interactions and the transformation of spaces. After a welcome address by University President Prof. Dr Matthias Barth, Student Vice-President Lena Höhne and Student Vice-President Robin Miller, the Minister expressed her delight at the ministerial visit on the subject of sustainable construction and the fact that HNEE is training experts from various disciplines to solve this social issue of the future.

Federal Building Minister Klara Geywitz picked up on this and began her speech by describing the renaissance of timber construction as a future prospect for building. In her view, sustainable timber construction brings together climate protection and modern construction technology. On the one hand, building materials need to be produced in a more CO2-saving way, while on the other, CO2-storing building materials need to be used in order to contribute to achieving climate targets. She believes that HNEE has an important role to play in this issue, contributing to solving the technical issues for a future worth living through research and teaching.

For Minister Geywitz, however, sustainability means more than just meeting the demand for living space with timber construction as quickly and sustainably as possible. She sees the issues of social justice and the economic viability of housing as anchored in sustainability and as a central part of a sustainable construction industry. At the end of the lecture, she encouraged the students that a secure professional future lies ahead of them in the field of timber engineering - not only in planning offices, but also in the public sector, such as her ministry.

Social justice and affordable housing were also topics of the subsequent discussion with the students, professors and staff. The Minister pointed out that measures to speed up the creation of suitable living space have been initiated, but that construction also takes time. With regard to questions about the conversion and renovation of the growing stock of single-family homes of the baby boomer generation in need of renovation, she discussed modular construction and remodelling, which could make it possible to adapt living space to different phases of life.

After the discussion, the Minister continued her visit to a building component manufacturer in Neuruppin.

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