SocraticGadfly: German town goes REALLY green

June 22, 2008

German town goes REALLY green

In Marburg, Germany, new houses or major remodels of existing ones will have to add one square meter of solar panels for every 10 square meters of floor space. And some residents have their hackles up.

But to some degree, the town fathers and mothers are just passing on more broadly written legislative requirements from Berlin.

The German government says that from 2009, all new and renovated buildings will have to comply with stricter energy efficiency standards. And, not just Marburg’s mix of Green and Social Democratic politicians are getting more specific.

As the story notes, the conservative government of the state of Baden-Wurtemberg already requires new homes to have 20 percent of their heating come from renewable sources, and the measures will be tightened in two years.

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