Constructive Efficiency

Increasing competitiveness and increasing resource efficiency are the order of the day in the construction industry. Technical developments that lead to the optimization and systematization of building constructions are decisive factors in achieving this. The Green Building Cluster of Lower Austria is pursuing the vision of initiating such developments in cross-company and cross-trade cooperation and without being restricted to certain materials and systems.

To realize this vision, you can choose from a whole range of measures: Greater planning accuracy leads to more efficient use of materials. If construction solutions are already designed to be fault-tolerant (i.e. in such a way that small design errors do not immediately lead to structural damage and the resulting warranty claims), a lot of leeway is gained. A high degree of systematization and prefabrication is particularly advantageous for complex construction projects. Optimized connection technologies can facilitate the reuse of materials and increase the performance of the component. Hybrid construction methods and material combinations as well as the use of renewable raw materials open up new perspectives. Cross-trade cooperation is essential for all these aspects in order to take advantage of potential that can increase competitiveness.

Numerous building blocks have already been implemented:

• In a series of qualification projects, know-how on multi-story timber and timber hybrid construction was built up in the Lower Austrian construction industry. Sponsor: FFG (Austrian Research Promtion Agency)
• In the “TGA Timber” innovation network, cross-discipline concepts for technical building equipment that conform to timber construction were developed. Sponsor: FFG program COIN – Cooperation and Innovation
• In several industry projects, larger company consortia have worked to optimize complex buildings with many interfaces with regard to thermal, moisture and sound insulation and to develop effective designs.
• With “natuREbuilt”, an innovation network of companies and institutions has formed that want to establish regenerative, recyclable, regional and resilient components in building construction. Sponsor: FFG program COIN – Cooperation and Innovation
• The industry project “prefab.facade” will focus on increasing the performance of recyclable, serially prefabricated facade elements. Sponsor: FFG program Collective Research

The network of the Green Building Cluster of Lower Austria in this area includes manufacturers of building components, planning and contracting companies as well as scientific institutions such as the Technical University of Vienna and the TGM.

However, there are still a few challenges to be overcome in order to implement the vision: the development of new and optimized building components and designs often requires cooperation beyond one’s own community, one’s own construction method and the individual trade. It is not uncommon for builders, building authorities, planners and processors to have reservations about new construction methods and building components. These reservations are often due to a lack of detailed knowledge. Bringing these players together is the aim and purpose of cooperation projects in the Cluster.