The brick industry on the federal election
The German brick industry has issued 12 key demands for the federal election. In addition to new housing construction subsidy programs, the focus is also on creating a favorable environment for climate protection and sustainability.
"The brick industry is ready to help solve urgent societal challenges," stated Stefan Jungk, President of the Federal Association of the German Brick Industry (BVZi), while presenting his industry association's demands to policymakers. The 80 companies united in the association represent an annual turnover of 1.5 billion euros and employ 8,500 people. They produce 7.5 million cubic meters of wall bricks and 600 million roof tiles annually, holding a 34% market share in single and two-family home construction. To ensure the industry can contribute to high-quality, sustainable, and affordable construction while meeting ambitious climate goals, a framework is required that secures competitiveness and fosters innovation. From this, German brick manufacturers have derived 12 key demands ahead of the federal election in September.
For industrial production and climate protection
In the recently presented "Roadmap for a Greenhouse Gas-Neutral Brick Industry by 2050" (see download), the industry outlines its path to climate-neutral production. For this transformation process to succeed, more political support is needed: brickmakers are calling for reliable targets, a comprehensive investment program—especially for small and medium-sized enterprises—available green energy at competitive costs, and effective carbon leakage protection. The brick industry opposes "artificial state market interventions," such as those favoring timber construction, which is why they are demanding a clear commitment to "technological neutrality" in achieving climate goals.
For social and energy-efficient housing construction
In the second thematic area, the brick industry addresses the necessary incentives for social and energy-efficient housing construction. Demands include tripling social housing subsidies to three billion euros per year and a 250,000 euro tax-free allowance on the property transfer tax for the first-time purchase of a private home. Furthermore, the renovation rate must be at least doubled, and a "One Million Roofs Renovation Program by 2025" should be launched. Incentives for the use of renewable energies—such as solar panels—must be linked with prior energy-related roof optimization to create an attractive combined subsidy.
For sustainable construction along the value chain
For a consistent assessment of the life cycle analysis of buildings, the entire life cycle from raw material extraction to recycling should be considered. Access to raw materials such as loam and clay must be secured in the long term, and obstacles to product recycling must be removed. For public construction projects, regionally available building materials should be given greater consideration in the future. Additionally, the currently assumed building lifespan of 50 years no longer reflects the reality of modern construction and should therefore be increased to 80 years.