Press releases of the Fraunhofer IBP

As climate change progresses, extreme weather events such as prolonged hot spells, storms and heavy rain are occurring ever more frequently, and cities are feeling the strain. The new urban climate model PALM-4U will allow municipal staff and city planners to simulate the effects of their planned construction projects on the urban climate, so that they can gauge the consequences of extreme weather events before they happen, improve quality of life in urban areas and protect the health of the sick and the elderly. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics IBP created the user interface for the simulator, putting their many years of expertise in fields such as hygrothermics and indoor climate to good use.

In order to implement sustainable production, sustainable consumption and circular economy in practice, both systemic and technical solutions are required. According to an idea of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, these solutions are to be created in so-called CIRCONOMY® Hubs. These are Germany-wide networks that bring together partners from science, industry, associations and society to focus on a specific area. Two of these networks have already started their work: the hubs "Material Cycles in the Construction Sector" and "Circular Carbon Technologies CCT".

Times are challenging: not only have building materials become significantly more expensive in 2022, but the number of building permits for apartments has also fallen by almost seven percent¹. Changes are also in store for the construction industry due to increasing digitization as well as higher requirements governing the energy efficiency of buildings or their indoor climate. New solutions from industry, politics and research are therefore urgently needed. At the BAU 2023 trade fair, which will be taking place in Munich from April 17 to 22, 2023, Fraunhofer IBP will be showcasing innovative products and system solutions on the topics of Digitization, Energy and Heat, The Future of Living and Working, and Resources and Recycling at the Fraunhofer Building Innovation Alliance booth (Hall C2, Booth 528) as part of the special exhibition “Building the Future”.

Energy is scarce – and like all scarce things, it comes at a price. That is why Germany needs to greatly reduce its energy consumption. There is significant potential for this in the area of heating and cooling energy which accounts for a large proportion of Germany’s energy consumption. Innovative materials that can be programmed to control heat transition can be a valuable tool in this scenario. The use of materials like these could, for instance, save up to 40 percent of the energy used to cool single-family homes.

The packaging world is experiencing a shift away from plastic toward paper, cardboard or paperboard. But how sustainable is this new trend? In its latest report “Reusable plastic crates vs. single-use cardboard boxes — two packaging systems in competition”1, the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT and the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics IBP were commissioned by the Stiftung Initiative Mehrweg (SIM) to explain the background to and correlations between the ecological effects of single-use cardboard boxes and reusable plastic crates. A general discourse on the topic of single-use vs. reusable solutions intends to help political actors lay the groundwork for a viable circular economy of the future.

Until now, noisy and power-guzzling building dryers have normally been the only way of repairing water damage to apartments from leaking pipes or following heavy rain and flooding. The “FastDry”® technology developed by Fraunhofer researchers requires significantly less energy and works at least as quickly as conventional systems. The idea that underpins the technology is incredibly simple.

The European Union wants the Life Cycle Assessment of buildings to be given more significance in the future, and the EU Taxonomy creates a systematic basis for this: It defines criteria for evaluating investments, including for the climate change mitigation objective of the taxonomy. Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics IBP worked together with a business partner to develop a software suite that combines ecological indicators and economic calculations for investments. This has an influence on banks’ lending decisions since interest surcharges are possible for non-green investments in the future.

The rate of renovation in the building sector is still too low to achieve the energy transition by the target date set by the German federal government. However, increased use of prefabricated components can help accelerate this process. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics IBP and the Fraunhofer Institute for Energy Economics and Energy System Technology IEE are developing a facade module that integrates the technical building equipment and supplies it with renewable energy to heat, cool and ventilate the adjoining rooms. This is made possible by a PV system integrated into the modular facade for supplying energy, a mini heat pump for heating and cooling, and a decentralized ventilation unit with heat recovery. In addition to being suitable for the renovation of existing facades, the system can also be used as a sustainable, energy-efficient solution in new builds.

A visit to the movies is a nice break from day-to-day life and can be an enjoyable outing, especially when there is a pandemic. But in order to relax and enjoy the film, you want to know that the risk of infection while you are watching it is as low as possible. The good ventilation systems typical of movie theaters make sure that any infectious aerosols are quickly removed. This has also been confirmed by the latest analyses from the CineCov project funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media (BKM).

The Earth's climate is becoming hotter and more extreme - scientists no longer speak of the climate change, but of the climate crisis. It is high time to act. The World Climate Conference COP26 is currently taking place in Glasgow. Crucial climate policy decisions are on the agenda: adaptation to climate change, climate finance, and future climate-related damage. Our cultural heritage is acutely threatened by the climate crisis and irreplaceable losses are already occurring. But what exactly does the future look like? Which extreme climate events will affect cultural heritage in Germany? And how can it be protected from damaging climatic effects? Fraunhofer researchers are investigating this in the BMBF project KERES. For the first time, not only a single climate model is being used, but also an ensemble of ten regional climate models. This makes it possible to reliably predict which extreme weather events threaten the historical buildings and gardens and to what extent.