Competence Center for Building and Design

In order for construction projects to be carried out economically and ecologically, this specialist field deals with building management issues that should concentrate in particular on the optimization of building processes. On the one hand, the complexity of the tasks in construction work is increasing due to the increase in technical developments, and on the other hand, major projects are increasing. Moreover other construction contract models are being applied, from the standard price contract to the flat rate contract, all the way to functional tenders. The operator models for large-scale projects by public construction companies are further models that are taken over by the public sector after the usually defined operating phase. Furthermore, based on future developments such as BIM, an increased knowledge of data structures as well as data reconciliation processes in the course of project implementation, the interface problem and the construction progress recording are required. The Competence Center is working on a research project with BIM and, in cooperation with other stakeholders, is working on the basics of IFC structures in the infrastructure sector.

Structural Engineering is primarily concerned with research into technologies for the targeted preservation of existing structures, which in the case of buildings, infrastructure structures and urban facilities, can have a long service life. In this context, the focus is also on the further development of durable and resource-saving materials as well as their targeted use in engineering structures. The further development of assessment standards in combination with experimental and numerical investigations are further core tasks of the Competence Center. From this point of view, work is also being done to develop prognosis models on the state of preservation of the supporting structure of engineering structures, based on empirical values of the condition assessment in the course of the construction inspections. Furthermore, the Competence Center also deals with the question of sustainability and resource conservation in concrete construction for optimizing the CO2 balance in the course of production, preservation and recycling.

The challenges of sustainable architecture are strongly linked to the minimization of raw material and energy consumption. Based on this fact, the research field Sustainable Architecture and Smart Buildings deals with the analysis and development of sustainable construction. The issues revolve around the ecological aspect of building and thus building materials from renewable raw materials. Renewable and recyclable building materials will become more important in the future. In terms of their life cycle, they require less energy, can be disposed of without any problems and contribute to a healthy and pollutant-free indoor climate. Certain components are not replaceable by renewable building materials. In such cases, we must strive to use recyclable materials in order to achieve the lowest possible environmental impact. As a consequence, the research field focuses on the construction aspects of multi-story timber construction. In this context, the aspects of optimized energy planning and the construction of buildings are explored.

Furthermore, options for the densification of metropolitan areas as well as questions about planning processes in sustainable urban development are being researched.