Building against the crisis: Solid Unit Climate Advisory Council discusses in the Bundestag
09.12.2025
Kassem Taher Saleh, Member of the German Bundestag, Prof. Dr. Sebastian Schipper, Tobias Riffel, and Jacqueline Charlier at the Solid Unit Climate Advisory Council meeting in the Paul Löbe House
Figure: Solid Unit/René Löffler
Germany is in the midst of a housing crisis—and the clock is ticking. While rents continue to rise and more and more families are unable to find affordable housing, there is growing pressure to build in a more climate-friendly way. Can both of these goals be achieved at the same time? Solid Unit's Climate Advisory Board addressed this question last week at the Paul Löbe House of the German Bundestag during this year's Climate Advisory Board meeting, “Building for Social Cohesion.” Under the patronage of Kassem Taher Saleh, Member of the Bundestag and spokesperson for construction policy for the Bündnis 90/Die Grünen parliamentary group, the event made it clear that It takes courage, speed, and new ways of thinking to overcome the housing shortage.
The urgency of the situation is underscored by current figures from the Federal Working Group on Homeless Assistance: in 2024, more than one million people were homeless, including over 250,000 children and young people. 56,000 people were living completely without shelter – an increase of 11 percent over the previous year.
New impetus for new construction
In his keynote speech, Prof. Dr. Sebastian Schipper from Goethe University Frankfurt painted a picture of recurring crises in the construction sector and emphasized that Germany could only find its way out of the current impasse with “new ways of thinking and acting.”
A look at Hamburg provided inspiration: Jacqueline Charlier, State Secretary at the Hamburg Ministry of Urban Development and Housing, presented the “Hamburg Standard” – a successful municipal model that shows that affordable construction and high quality do not have to be mutually exclusive.
Building as a social responsibility
In their presentations, climate advisors Kassem Taher Saleh, Member of the German Bundestag, Prof. Dietmar Walberg (Arbeitsgemeinschaft für zeitgemäßes Bauen e.V.) and Dr. Tillman Prinz (Federal Chamber of Architects) made it clear that housing is much more than a technical issue. It determines integration, quality of life, and the functioning of our community.
No master plan – but a clear signal
At the end of the event, there were no ready-made solutions, but a clear signal: the ways out of the crisis are there – what is lacking above all is a common will and consistent implementation. The housing shortage cannot be postponed; it has long been more than just an economic problem.
The members of the Climate Advisory Board
Solid Unit's Climate Advisory Board is made up of experts from politics, science, and practice: Michael Kießling, Member of the German Bundestag (CDU/CSU), Dr. Philipp Rottwilm, Member of the German Bundestag (SPD), Kassem Taher Saleh, Member of the German Bundestag (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), Prof. Lucio Blandini (University of Stuttgart, Werner Sobek AG), Dr. Christine Lemaitre (German Sustainable Building Council), Dr. Tillman Prinz (Federal Chamber of Architects), and Prof. Dietmar Walberg (Working Group for Contemporary Building, Lübeck University of Applied Sciences).
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