Planet under Pressure
The 2020s are the make-or-break decade for Sustainability. But Covid-19 questions almost everything. How can we handle increasingly frequent shocks? What can a resilient society and economy that is in line with planetary boundaries look like? These and many other questions are discussed in the new 2020 edition of the Global Goals Yearbook titled “Planet under Pressure”. The Yearbook supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals and is one of the publications in strong international demand.
The 2020s are the make-or-break decade for Sustainability. But Covid-19 questions almost everything. How can we handle increasingly frequent shocks? What can a resilient society and economy that is in line with planetary boundaries look like? These and many other questions are discussed in the new 2020 edition of the Global Goals Yearbook titled “Planet under Pressure”. The Yearbook supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals and is one of the publications in strong international demand.
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VONOVIA INVESTS IN<br />
INNOVATIVE<br />
ENERGY SYSTEMS<br />
– Germany’s Largest Residential Real Estate Company to Pinpoint Solutions for Affordable<br />
Climate Protection<br />
By Jonathan Przybylski, Vonovia<br />
Sustainability and climate protection<br />
have always been key issues at Vonovia,<br />
and not just since the Fridays for<br />
Future movement took off. Affordable<br />
rents and targeted support when tenants<br />
have payment difficulties; building<br />
renovation and modernization; organizing<br />
climate conferences; researching<br />
innovative energy systems; and joining<br />
forces with Germany’s largest conservation<br />
organization (the Nature and Biodiversity<br />
Conservation Union – NABU) for<br />
a unique partnership are just a handful<br />
of examples of how Germany’s leading<br />
housing provider has long considered<br />
ecological and social factors to be key<br />
decision-making parameters. “Here at<br />
Vonovia, sustainability means doing business<br />
in a way that generates a long-term<br />
benefit for society as a whole,” says Rolf<br />
Buch, Chief Executive Officer of Vonovia<br />
SE. That is why Vonovia will now be<br />
structuring its business in line with the<br />
UN Sustainable Development Goals, a<br />
set of guidelines covering sustainable<br />
development as well as economic, social,<br />
and ecological factors.<br />
Vonovia is a company with a workforce of<br />
10,000 employees that manages around<br />
356,000 apartments. It also has a portfolio<br />
of 38,000 apartments in Sweden<br />
and a further 22,500 in Austria. This<br />
portfolio is complemented by Vonovia’s<br />
development business, which completed<br />
some 2,100 new apartments in 2019<br />
(primarily through the BUWOG brand).<br />
As a result, Vonovia is one of the leading<br />
residential real estate companies in<br />
Germany, Sweden, and Austria. Its business<br />
model is geared toward creating and<br />
renting out high-quality, modern, and<br />
affordable housing. Vonovia also offers<br />
housing-related services and employs<br />
more than 5,000 craftsmen and 800<br />
gardeners. Sustainability is therefore<br />
already a well-established component<br />
of the company’s business.<br />
Vonovia’s mission is to find answers<br />
to the question of how environmental<br />
sustainability and affordable living<br />
can be brought <strong>under</strong> one roof. Not<br />
only are construction costs rising, efforts<br />
to protect our climate are posing a<br />
dilemma both to housing companies<br />
and tenants. It goes without saying that<br />
building owners must play their part in<br />
the fight against global warming, especially<br />
considering that some 30 percent<br />
of carbon emissions in Germany are attributable<br />
to real estate. Efforts by real<br />
estate companies to reduce emissions by<br />
insulating walls or modernizing heating<br />
systems result in expenses that can<br />
overburden less-well-off residents. That<br />
is why Vonovia limits its surcharge for<br />
renovation and modernization work to<br />
€2 per square meter, ensuring that housing<br />
remains affordable. Some people will<br />
not be in a position to cover the cost<br />
of even low-cost modernization work,<br />
which is where Vonovia’s hardship management<br />
comes in. Modernization work<br />
was carried out at some 13,200 apartments<br />
in 2019, with Vonovia providing<br />
financial assistance to 1,600 customers.<br />
Vonovia is also always willing to help<br />
out its tenants over the age of 70 who<br />
may not be able to afford rent increases<br />
due to modernization work either. Here,<br />
the company will find an individual<br />
solution so that no one is forced out of<br />
their home.<br />
The issues of protecting the climate and<br />
maintaining affordable housing pose<br />
some significant challenges to Vonovia,<br />
which is why the company is looking at<br />
additional measures besides energy-efficiency<br />
modernization by using existing<br />
technology to reduce carbon emissions.<br />
These include serial approaches such as<br />
the innovative Energiesprong system,<br />
with its prefabricated external insulation,<br />
and renewable energies such as photovoltaics.<br />
The second most important tool at<br />
Vonovia’s disposal to improve its carbon<br />
footprint is to expand the decentralized<br />
provision of renewable energy. As part of<br />
its 1,000 Roofs program, Vonovia aims<br />
to fit photovoltaic modules to the roofs<br />
of at least 1,000 buildings over the next<br />
few years. It has already completed more<br />
than 800 of these.<br />
144<br />
Global Goals Yearbook 2020
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