Sustainable construction: high-quality, cost-efficient and less resource-intensive
Sustainable behaviour, fair treatment of our team and social commitment in the region have always been an integral part of our corporate culture. The measures we take in the area of sustainability and social responsibility are therefore a matter of course for us. From sustainable resource management and particularly energy-saving construction methods to the promotion of craftsmanship – our aim is to act sustainably and set an example of responsibility. For us, this starts on a small scale and everyone can make a contribution.
We design the house of the future
The importance of the construction sector for greater sustainability
Leaving an intact environment and equal opportunities for future generations is the focus of sustainable action.
Buildings are used for a long time and are associated with a high consumption of resources and energy during their construction and throughout their entire life cycle. The construction sector accounts for 36% of total global energy consumption and half of total resource consumption. It is therefore particularly important that sustainability and climate protection already play a major role in the planning of new buildings.
The aim is to create future-proof buildings that are climate-friendly, economical, of high quality and durable and offer their residents and users a comfortable and healthy environment.
The characteristics of a sustainable building
In general, sustainable behaviour means taking ecological, economic and socio-cultural factors into account in equal measure. These points are therefore also taken into account from the outset when planning and constructing sustainable buildings.
Important assessment criteria for sustainable buildings are ecological quality (emission measurements, primary energy consumption, etc.), economic quality (life cycle costs, flexibility of use), socio-cultural and functional quality (indoor air quality, individual floor plans, burglary protection, etc.), technical quality (fire and noise protection), process quality (quality of planning and construction) and location quality (construction site, transport links, medical care, etc.).
Our ESG strategy for sustainable construction
As a manufacturer of prefabricated timber houses, sustainability has always been part of our DNA. Now we are going one step further with our holistic, clearly defined and ambitious ESG strategy: our goal is to be a leader in sustainability in the prefabricated house industry. We want to build houses in which people can live long, healthy, safe and environmentally friendly lives. This can be achieved through continuous development and an all-round sustainable product – including the materials, the processes and the people who make it.
Lower impact on the environment
In Germany, the construction sector must reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 46% by 2030 in order to achieve the net-zero targets by 2045. We are making our contribution to this.
Prefabricated houses produce up to 37% less CO2 emissions than comparable, conventionally built houses. Our goal is to reduce the emissions generated per house by 15% from 868 kg CO2e (2020) to 738 kg CO2e (2025). In addition to the continuous improvement of our homes, measures such as the use of electric forklifts in the factory also contribute to this.
We also take into account greenhouse gas emissions that we generate indirectly: to ensure that no emissions are produced for the generation of the energy we use, we have been using 100% renewable energy since 2018. We are currently working on concepts to reduce further indirect emissions.
Leading the way in the circular economy
Compared to houses built on site, the prefabricated construction method already produces 50% less waste.
We are also reducing the amount of waste by increasingly operating a circular economy and using renewable, locally recycled materials. We process production waste into wood pellets and chipboard, heat our factories with wood waste, are setting up a recycling system for plaster waste and are working on sustainable solutions for material deliveries - windows already arrive in reusable packaging.
We are already leading the industry in terms of waste reduction. Our goal is to reduce total waste at Group level by a further 5% by 2025.
Sustainable living for our homeowners
Prospective builders are increasingly focussing on a sustainable, healthy and environmentally friendly home. Our focus is therefore also on pioneering work in this area. Our prefabricated houses already fulfil the DGNB standards for environmental sustainability and quality of life.
89% of the homes sold in 2023 were realised in an energy-efficient manner and 47% were equipped with PV systems. This reduces both the CO2 footprint and operating costs. Thanks to automated processes, our prefabricated houses are built faster and resources are utilised more efficiently, allowing us to offer a fixed price guarantee.
Staff turnover 30 % below the industry average
We are proud of our qualified workforce, who are passionate about their work. We are in the fortunate position that our newly recruited employees can benefit from the many years of experience of their colleagues - almost 5% of our team have been working in Group companies for more than 30 years.
We place particular emphasis on continuously improving the satisfaction and development of our team, attracting and training new qualified employees and demonstrating a strong leadership culture.
Careers at Hanse Haus
News on the topic of sustainability at Hanse Haus
Sustainability & environmental protection
Climate-friendly and sustainable construction
We have been using wood as a renewable raw material for our prefabricated houses since 1929. This results in particularly environmentally friendly, durable houses with optimum thermal insulation.
Over 90% of the timber we use is FSC/PEFC-certified and comes from responsibly managed forests. For example, we source a large proportion of our solid construction timber directly from a supplier in the Rhön region, just 30 kilometres from our production facility.
Certified sustainability
The German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB) has developed criteria for assessing buildings. These include ecological quality (e.g. primary energy consumption), economic quality (e.g. life cycle costs) and technical quality (e.g. fire and noise protection).
Depending on the extent to which the DGNB criteria are met, new buildings can be awarded certificates. All our prefabricated houses, including the Hanse Haus basement/floor slab, receive the DGNB sustainability certificate in gold from the almost finished completion level.
Highest funding level for sustainable new builds
Our prefabricated houses offer the best conditions to fulfil the requirements for the Sustainable Building quality seal. This certification is in turn required in order to achieve the highest subsidy level in the two current KfW new construction subsidy programmes.
A QNG-certified prefabricated house therefore not only offers financial benefits, but also fulfils the highest requirements in terms of sustainability, energy efficiency and durability.
Our path to more sustainability in house building
We can build on a strong foundation with our strategy. In recent years, we have already made a lot of progress towards a market-leading, sustainable product portfolio.
2009
We are one of the first prefabricated house providers to build a passive house – a highly efficient building that requires very little energy for heating and cooling.
2010
Hanse Haus opens the first show house to the Efficiency House 40 standard in Bad Vilbel – even before KfW officially introduces this new subsidy level for new buildings.
2013
With our PlusEnergy concept, we are presenting the Variant 35-235 show home in Wuppertal, which generates more heat and electricity than it consumes.
2015
We are one of the first prefabricated house manufacturers to equip houses with gas fuel cells. Our show home realised in this way was awarded DGNB Gold.
2019
Since 2019, we have been able to guarantee that all prefabricated houses in our entire portfolio have been awarded the DGNB Gold certificate for sustainability.
2022
The first house to be awarded the BMWSB's Sustainable Building quality seal is a show home from Hanse Haus.
Our strategy for sustainable growth
„We believe that a successful ESG strategy is a key factor in our long-term success as a company and will be an important driver of our future growth.“
Request without obligation & free of charge our prefabricated house catalog with detailed information about the company as well as all house designs or construction performance and equipment descriptions. In addition, you will find the prices for our campaign houses in our campaign brochure.