»Innovationszentrum Bau« for Sustainable Construction to Be Established in Weimar: Minister of Economic Affairs Boos-John Presents Funding Approval for Nearly 5.5 Million Euros
Joint press release with the TMWLLR: Thuringia is pooling and strengthening its expertise in construction technology. The »Thüringer Innovationszentrum für die Zukunft des Bauens« (ThIZ-BAU) intends to develop resource-friendly, sustainable building materials and processes and to transfer new products and technologies into industrial application. Today, as a first step, Thuringia’s Minister of Economic Affairs, Colette Boos-John, presented approval for three forms of funding totalling just under 5.5 million euros (EFRE and state funds) to the participating research institutions in Weimar: the Finger-Institute for Building Material Engineering at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar (0.9 million euros), the Institut für Angewandte Bauforschung Weimar GmbH (IAB) (2.5 million euros), and the Materials Research and Testing Laboratory (MFPA) (2.1 million euros). The funding will be used primarily to purchase research equipment. All three institutes will be sponsoring the new »Innovationszentrum« together.
»With the Bauhaus-Universität, the MFPA, and the IAB, Weimar is a real heavyweight when it comes to construction research in Germany and beyond«, says Minister of Economic Affairs Boos-John. She added, however, that the research should not stop at the doors of the lab. »The goal needs to be to scale up new solutions to an industrial level and develop marketable products and applications in collaboration with the industry«, said the Minister. »The new ›Innovationszentrum‹ is expected to significantly contribute to this goal.« ThIZ-BAU will close the gaps in existing equipment and research infrastructure. Alternative raw materials, new binders, recycling, digitalisation, and energy-efficient and electrified processes make up the main focus. ThIZ-BAU is also part of the planned research infrastructure centred around the »Bundesforschungszentrum für klimaneutrales und ressourceneffizientes Bauen« (BFZ) (Federal Construction Research Centre) in Weimar, which the State has promised to the federal government.
Germany’s construction industry is set to become climate-neutral by 2045. The topic is still in its early stages, but the potential savings, for example through recycling building materials and making climate-friendly substitutions in the construction industry, are enormous. This can be seen, for instance, in the fact that the construction and building sector account for nearly 40 percent of Germany’s total carbon footprint. The steadily increasing costs of raw materials are also making it necessary to rethink and limit cost risks and to stabilise construction costs in the long term.
The construction expertise available in Thuringia, in particular in Weimar, can help tap into this potential in the future. There are currently around 500 qualified employees working here in the field of construction materials and building components. Excellent research infrastructure with outstanding buildings and equipment already exists and this makes it possible to carry out scientific activities ranging from basic research to small-scale technical applications. Over 40 research and development projects receiving a total of 40 million euros are currently underway in the network.