ᐅ New Construction – How to Build Cost-Effectively?

Bieber0815 schrieb:
Other factors must then have a stronger impact (if the hypothesis that identical houses cost so differently is correct).

Of course, that is true. In my opinion, there are two reasons for this:

a) Labor costs accumulate throughout the entire value chain that ends with the completion of a house. This results in labor representing a larger portion of the overall costs than generally assumed. Regional differences in craftsmen’s wages therefore have a significant effect.

b) Margin realization based on supply and demand. In metropolitan areas, building land is scarce and expensive, and those who build there usually have the financial means. There is strong demand from financially capable buyers. Craftsmen can charge higher prices and still maintain full workload, so they will do so.

I would be interested to know whether prefabricated houses that are identical cost the same everywhere. It is possible that in metropolitan areas this could be more cost-effective than using local construction companies. However, tasks such as tile installation, painting, etc., will still be considerably more expensive there. As a result, the value of owner-performed work increases depending on the area.

Prefabricated house manufacturers like Scanhaus Marlow regionalize their prices. SH is the base, like an MVP, with a significant surcharge for Bavaria, for example. They really know where the hammer is. Karsten

@kaho674 - did you know that today is World Cat Day?

77.willo schrieb:
Still missing in this thread: the typical far-right conspiracy theories. The Greens haven’t been in government for ages.

Well. Remove “the Greens” and then it’s true. You don’t save CO2 by building or driving a huge car instead of a small one or even a bicycle. Not even with a passive house plus a Blue Motion SUV...

At best, you can manage resources more efficiently relative to the size by investing in technology. But that technology has to save enough to justify its production.

As a homeowner with a garage, I see the future in solar energy, although at the moment – and here Nordlys is right – it’s still not financially viable.

Electric cars will become technically so much cheaper to produce that no one unfamiliar with the background can imagine it. In 10–15 years, internal combustion engines will be priced out (unless governments intervene with tariffs, taxes, or whatever). Then the combination of solar power from your own roof plus the vehicle will open up entirely new possibilities. And yes, solar is naturally better in terms of CO2. Heating gas doesn’t just vanish neutrally in the system, not to mention combustion emissions. And if you generate solar electricity, a heat pump makes sense.

At least as a homeowner who can afford or wants to, these are thoughts worth considering. Economically, gas and combustion engines still have an edge for now.

Thanks for the factual contribution. I don’t fully agree with you and view batteries more critically—today it’s issues with oil, tomorrow it’s rare earth elements... I would have preferred if the industry had focused more on hydrogen as a power source. Emissions would then be just H2O.
AfD. Willo is losing it. I’m nowhere near AfD—more towards FDP.
Solar energy definitely still has a lot of potential, but I see the greatest potential in wind power, at least here in northern Germany. Also, solar panels on roofs are kind of ugly. I don’t like them.

Nordlys schrieb:
Solar energy certainly still has a lot of potential, but I see the greatest potential in wind power, at least here in northern Germany. Also: solar roofs are somehow ugly. I don’t like them.

I don’t find solar panels anywhere near as ugly as wind turbines. And they’re better for birds, too.

Nordlys schrieb:
I don’t quite agree with you; I’m more skeptical about batteries. Today it's because of oil, then because of rare earth elements... I wish the industry had focused more on hydrogen as a power source. Exhaust would then just be H2O.

There are good reasons why batteries, not fuel cells, have won out.

Regarding rare earth elements: that’s incorrect. Tesla batteries, for example, contain 0.0% rare earths. Zero. Nada. None. Other manufacturers will copy this for cost reasons, Tesla has made the patents open.

Hydrogen has three major disadvantages compared to electricity: transport, storage, and the overall low system efficiency. Electricity is vastly better in all three. The distribution network for electricity largely already exists; one for hydrogen does not.

Furthermore, hydrogen is extremely diffuse, can cause materials to become brittle, must be stored very cold and under extremely high pressure. Additionally, it is highly flammable (the Hindenburg was filled with hydrogen). Gasoline, by comparison, is like a candle. You want me to have that stuff under my car at 300 bar (4,350 psi)?

All these factors reduce overall efficiency since energy is used at every step (compression, cooling, transport), which eats into the usable energy for driving.

Electricity is much more efficient. And before someone says, “It’s illogical to use electricity generated by burning fossil fuels; you might as well just use a combustion engine,” that’s wrong!

I have done real test drives to get actual consumption data. The energy content per volume of fuel is known. The calculation: if you didn’t refine oil into fuel but instead burned it in modern power plants to run electric vehicles, you’d need about 3.5 times less oil. The overall system efficiency is that much higher. Except for the engineers around me, no one understands this or can imagine it. The official announcements in the German press say very different things…

The tipping point will come down to price. When batteries are cheap enough, internal combustion engines are finished. The entire car will be cheaper. The entire engine with all its moving parts and potential failure points: gone. The business model of car manufacturers with their authorized service centers: gone. What will be truly interesting is how to supply electricity for charging in densely populated city centers.

A home builder can already start preparing for this future.

Have you ever checked the weight of electric cars?
With 50kg (110 lbs) of gasoline/diesel, I can drive 500 to 1000 km (310 to 620 miles), but with 500 kg (1,100 lbs) of battery, the maximum range is about 400 km (250 miles), and in cold weather maybe only 200 km (125 miles). I refuel 50kg (110 lbs) of gasoline in a maximum of 5 minutes including payment, while the electric car needs to stand still for at least 30 minutes to charge... Engineers here: Have you ever heard of energy density?