Short News of the Fraunhofer IBP

To live up to their climate pledge under the Paris agreement, EU lawmakers must ensure all 250 million existing as well as all new buildings in the EU become nearly zero greenhouse gas emitters. In a new report, experts nominated by EASAC’s member science academies call for far-reaching policy action. Prof. Dr. Gunnar Grün, Deputy Director of Fraunhofer IBP, contributed to the paper as an EASAC member. In particular, he was able to provide IBP expertise on the important topics and success factors of "plus-energy building" and "renovation of buildings".

Ralf Kilian became Professor of Preventive Conservation of Historical Monuments at the University of Bamberg in December 2020. The appointment under the Jülich model allows him to teach two semester hours per week at the University of Bamberg and to continue working for the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics IBP the rest of the time. The joint appointment is a win-win situation, as joint activities and research projects will give further impetus to preventive conservation.

Council of Ministers of the State of Baden-Wuerttemberg approves research program on the reduction of virus transmission via aerosols. A network of Fraunhofer Institutes and other partners is to advise companies on the implementation of ventilation concepts, while at the same time operating test environments together with manufacturers and conducting effectiveness tests of air purification technologies.

In order to explore the potential for sustainability of logistics processes, Fraunhofer IBP's department for Lifecycle Engineering developed the CO2 Environmental Calculator on behalf of the "Stiftung Initiative Mehrweg" (SIM).

Der »Expertenkreis Aerosole« wurde vom Wissenschaftsministerium von Baden-Württemberg am 7. Oktober 2020 zur Klärung der Virusübertragung durch Aerosole einberufen. Das Fraunhofer IBP ist durch Prof. Dr. Gunnar Grün im Expertenkreis vertreten. Prof. Dr. Gunnar Grün ist stellvertretender Institutsleiter am Fraunhofer IBP und Professor für das Lehrgebiet Bauphysik an der Universität Stuttgart. Durch seine langjährige Berufserfahrung und vielfältigen Forschungsarbeiten innerhalb der Abteilung «Energieeffizienz und Raumklima« ist er Experte im Themenfeld Aerosolausbreitung und Raumluftströmungen.

In order to support employees as quickly as possible in the positive design of work situations in the home office, the office initiative has already provided the first results of the »WORK | HOME | MOBILE« study. You can expect the potentials and identified options for action that have been identified by our researchers. You are welcome to download the brochure and share it in your network.

Scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics IBP in Stuttgart have investigated the influence of different masks on acoustic speech quality. The project aims at assessing the acoustic limitations of masks with the aid of an experimental setup and evaluation system, and to develop acoustically optimized face masks.

By developing hydrogen technologies to market maturity within a short period of time, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft aims at making a contribution to the energy turnaround and has therefore set up the Fraunhofer Network “Wasserstoff”. The research activities of over 20 member institutes are pooled here. The Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics IBP is also a member of the network.

The health of employees, customers, partners and suppliers is our highest priority. With this in mind, we have reduced operations at our institutes to a minimum. Of course, we are still working and are available for you in our home offices. Communication is therefore by telephone or digital means.

A consortium of companies in Europe developing sustainable fermentation processes to produce pheromones to safely control insect pests of maize, soybean, cotton, and other row crops, has been awarded a major grant of €6.4 million.