Launch of the transfer and research platform NextBauBW

Verena Hubertz, Federal Minister for Housing, Urban Development and Construction, symbolically presented funding for the first research projects of the new “German Research Center for Sustainable Construction” (DFZ-Bau) in Berlin on Friday. This also marks the launch of NextBauBW: In the future, the DFZ-Bau regional office will pool expertise to bring innovations for climate-neutral construction in Baden-Württemberg into practice more quickly. The NextBauBW office is located at the University of Stuttgart.

On Friday, September 25, the first research projects of the future “German Research Center for Sustainable Construction” (DFZ-Bau) were launched during a joint meeting of the founding partners at the Bundesrat. The launch of research activities marks an important milestone on the path to its institutional establishment, which is scheduled to take place in 2026.

The establishment of the DFZ-Bau is a joint project of the federal government, the states of Saxony, Thuringia, and Baden-Württemberg, as well as partners from the research and industry sectors. The research center is intended to help effectively address key challenges of the 21st century, such as climate change and high global resource consumption. At the heart of the DFZ-Bau is a new approach to research: practice-integrated, experimental, and closely aligned with real-world construction activities. New methods, materials, technologies, and processes are to be tested under real-world conditions, systematically evaluated, and further developed in collaboration with practitioners and for their benefit.

“With an excellent construction research landscape and an exceptionally strong construction industry featuring highly specialized industrial clusters, innovative companies, and a startup scene that is unique in Germany, Baden-Württemberg boasts an outstanding ecosystem in the construction sector.” We are bringing this combined strength from science and industry to the new decentralized research network of the DFZ-Bau. Together with our partners from Thuringia and Saxony, we are strengthening cross-state collaboration to rethink construction and combine sustainable, faster, and affordable building,” said Cem Özdemir, Minister President of Baden-Württemberg.  

“These new research projects will give construction research another boost. We want to make construction more sustainable, innovative, and future-proof. To achieve this, good ideas must be put into practice quickly. This is exactly where DFZ-Bau comes in. I would like to thank everyone involved for their dedication, and our researchers for their courage and ideas. Now I wish them every success –and above all, swift progress in implementing these plans. Because we can't afford to wait when it comes to transforming the construction industry,” says Petra Olschowski, Minister of Science for Baden-Württemberg.

As the regional representative of DFZ-Bau, NextBauBW will consolidate expertise for Baden-Württemberg in the future. The new state agency is funded by the Ministry of Science, Research, and the Arts. The participating research partners include the University of Stuttgart with its Cluster of Excellence “Integrative Computational Design and Construction for Transformative Architecture” (IntCDC), the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences, Biberach University of Applied Sciences, and institutes of the Fraunhofer Construction Alliance.

“NextBauBW is now set to expand steadily, bringing together stakeholders from academia, industry, and government agencies more closely. The goal is to accelerate the transfer of innovations in future-proof construction from the state’s outstanding research laboratories into practice, helping to drive the urgently needed transformation of the construction industry,” says Prof. Achim Menges, spokesperson for NextBauBW and director of the Institute for Computational Design and Construction (ICD) at the University of Stuttgart. The NextBauBW office is located at the University of Stuttgart. It is led by Dr. Norbert Pralle, who has been in office since mid-September. NextBauBW will work closely with DFZ-Bau and the state offices in Thuringia and Saxony.

In Baden-Württemberg, about 40 research institutions have been working intensively for years to make the construction sector more sustainable. The focus here is on the entire life cycle of buildings. From the design of resource-efficient components and construction methods, through more productive manufacturing and construction processes, to the use of sustainable – and thus recyclable –components and materials; ensuring their reuse in construction projects. NextBauBW’s activities build on the unique expertise of Baden-Württemberg’s research community; the consortium focuses on digitalization, integrated design and construction, robotics, circular construction, bio-based materials, and timber construction.

Solutions for the renovation and construction of existing buildings play a special role in densely populated Baden-Württemberg. To develop innovative research approaches with a practical focus, two experimental platforms are being established as part of NextBauBW at the University of Stuttgart and at KIT. Both platforms deliberately take a cross-material and technology-neutral approach. The project will utilize currently unused existing buildings – a setting that is ideally suited for the development, testing, and evaluation of sustainable renovation, conversion, and expansion concepts. 

“The concept of experimental platforms also facilitates a three-way transfer of knowledge: researchers, industry partners, and government agencies work closely together. This allows research findings to be quickly put into practice – and at the same time, insights and experiences from the field flow back into research,” says Prof. Dirk Hebel, who will be setting up the experimental platform at KIT. These two experimental platforms will thus not only serve as a new research tool, but also as visible hubs of innovation and central points of contact for the wide range of stakeholders and activities that make Baden-Württemberg a particularly distinctive location.