Dear Readers,
Everyone is probably familiar with Mark Twain, quoted at the beginning, thanks to the adventures of his fictional heroes Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. The latter was inspired by Twain’s real-life neighbor. According to Twain’s biography, this neighbor was “calm without fail.”
Of course I'm interested in the future. After all, I plan to spend the rest of my life there.
One can only wish everyone serenity. It is an important quality for facing the challenges of the future—especially when the signs point to change, as they do today. The energy transition, the shift in mobility, and climate neutrality are the buzzwords of the moment. Working toward these goals is essential to achieving the global sustainability goals of the 2030 Agenda.
According to the German federal government, the 2030 Agenda is to be understood as a roadmap designed to enable a dignified life worldwide and to permanently preserve the foundations of life for all of us. We need to adhere more closely to this roadmap. This will only work if we take the wheel ourselves—with sustainability as our goal.
For example, we designed a sustainable new production facility for the medical technology company Erbe and supported its implementation. It is one of the very first industrial buildings to meet the KfW Standard 40 Plus, which until now had been intended solely for residential buildings. This sets a powerful example—and is setting a trend. The optimization and digitization of the warehouse logistics for furniture manufacturer KÖNIG + NEURATH also demonstrate what is possible when we set to work with enthusiasm, a clear head, and the combined expertise of interdisciplinary teams. This is how sustainability works—forward-looking and profit-oriented.
In addition to these practical examples, you’ll find many other articles that shed light on the requirements and opportunities of sustainable planning and construction. Our guest authors—Dr. Harald Riedel, Georg Willem Büchler, Timo Lösch, and—new to this issue—Anna Ahlborn from EAC—also shed light on the topic from their respective professional perspectives.
But for now, I hope you enjoy reading this new issue of // plus!
If you have any questions or suggestions, I’m happy to help. My colleagues are also always open to your feedback.
Just give us a call—or write to:
I look forward to hearing from you!
Sincerely, Thomas Kilimann
