Projects and References

The SafeCar project aimed to reduce the risk of infection for paramedics and patients in ambulances by finding ways of eliminating viruses in a swift and efficient manner.

In the “Fraunhofer vs. Corona” program, Fraunhofer IBP has established practical methods to demonstrate the efficiency of air purification technologies.

Mobile indoor air purifiers remove infectious aerosols from the air or deactivate the pathogens contained within.

Scientists at the Fraunhofer IBP are developing an online process analysis to detect and verify organosulfur compounds.

New regulations such as the Energy Saving Ordinance raise the question of how efficiently ventilation systems work in terms of energy consumption.

The Fraunhofer IBP helped PHIUS develop a climate-adapted passive house standard and implemented it in the building simulation software WUFI® Passive.

The aim of the "EeBGuide" is for Europe to apply uniform and binding rules that put working with LCA on a common basis.

Our projects entitled “Clean Air Acoustics”, “AC/DC”, and “Healthy Air Initiative” focus on finding ways to purify air in rooms while keeping noise levels low.

At a school in Kochi, local regional partners and researchers from various Fraunhofer Institutes are testing technologies for adapting to the changing climate.

The project aims at strengthening Kochi's resilience to the effects of climate change.

In pursuit of safeguarding the values of the UNESCO World Heritage site of Petra (Jordan) given the challenges of rapid societal and climatic change, the Academy of Conservation and Care for the Environment 2024 (ACCE) aims to foster national and international knowledge exchange among post graduate students and young professionals. ACCE is building a platform for emerging young professionals to come together and participate in workshops at the intersection of natural and cultural heritage environments, by learning from and working with the communities entrusted with their care.

Climate change has significant impacts on our lives. Over the next few decades, extreme weather events such as heat waves, heavy rain, and flooding will continue to increase. In addition, gradual changes such as the shifting of precipitation patterns and rising annual average temperatures with more extreme heat days in the future are expected. As part of the pilot project “Climate Adaptation in Cultural Institutions”, 20 cultural institutions, including museums, libraries, theaters, socio-cultural institutions and park facilities, are being examined with regard to their vulnerability to location-specific climate-related changes, and climate adaptation measures are being developed. Based on these assessments, tailored adaption measures will be developed, considering structural, organizational, and programmatic potentials. The project focuses not only on protecting people, but also on safeguarding the buildings themselves and their often historically valuable interiors.

Every year, numerous art objects and monuments are enclosed to protect them against the weather, typically using wooden structures. However, the resulting humid indoor climate of these enclosures promotes microbial growth and increases freeze-thaw damage, often leading to expensive restorations. The project partners have therefore developed a modular enclosure system for outdoor cultural assets exposed to the elements, using transparent membranes and an innovative ventilation system. This ensures effective moisture removal under all weather conditions and eliminates moisture as the main cause of damage. Through a self-regulating ventilation system, the enclosure maintains a drier interior climate, allowing the enclosed artifacts to dry quickly and remain dry. This prevents freeze-thaw cycles from causing damage. The modular design facilitates assembly, disassembly, and storage, so that art objects both remain visible and are better protected.

Development and utilization of an innovative organic-based building material made of cattail and geopolymer.

To achieve a biological transformation, material flows must be considered as a whole and biointelligent solutions found for them. Closed material cycles are essential. For the insulating material, biological raw materials as well as residual materials are bonded together by mycelial growth.

How can the installation process of heat pumps be made more efficient and productive to address the challenges posed by the shortage of specialists and time-intensive installation? The WESPE research project investigates and develops innovative, standardized, and digitalized processes aimed at reducing the installation time of heat pumps by up to 40%.

Municipalities are faced with the challenge of adapting to climate change. On the one hand, they have to choose effective and sustainable measures, and on the other hand, they have to take into account the interests of residents and act under cost pressure. Key areas where cities need to take action include structural and spatial design and urban use of land. More about this in the Buolus project.

The development of solar water desalination plants is a promising approach to sustainable water treatment in water-scarce regions. At the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics IBP, several projects have been carried out in order to advance this technology. The aim was to evaluate the technical feasibility, identify optimisation potential and create the basis for market maturity.

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft addresses the current challenges facing German industry. Through its flagship initiatives, it sets strategic priorities aimed at developing practical, market-ready solutions to benefit Germany as a location for innovation. The thematic focus of these initiatives is aligned with the needs of industry. The goal is to rapidly transform scientifically innovative ideas into marketable applications. The participating Fraunhofer institutes pool their expertise and actively involve industry partners from the project's outset.

Researchers are therefore looking into ways to prevent damage to cultural assets and thus protect our cultural heritage.

Preserving ancient sites and looking after them carefully is one of the great challenges of our time. What better place to do that than in Pompeii? After all, this is the most completely preserved ancient city in the world and therefore has a very rich architectural heritage that must be conserved.

Cultural assets are critical socio-cultural infrastructures whose services contribute to Germany's economic development and competitiveness and promote the community. However, the increase in extreme weather events due to climate change poses a threat to these infrastructures, such as historic buildings & gardens and cultural landscapes. The BMBF-SiFo project “KERES” therefore studied future extreme weather events and their effects on our cultural heritage in Germany, and used models to examine these scenarios.

To support the sustainable conservation of the cultural heritage site of Petra, the Fraunhofer IBP together with local stakeholders, is developing a concept for a local education and training program.

In order to contend with extreme and imminent climate change, and to sustain cultural cohesion in the inhospitable environments that may result, we need to learn how to adapt and live with extremes by embracing climatically appropriate architecture and infrastructure. Combining the sciences and the arts, The Consortium for Climate-Adapted Architectural Heritage forecasts future climates in terms of geographically-based climate analogs – elucidating the future climate of any given location by identifying places that currently have the anticipated climate conditions – helping communities to adapt to climate change through preemptive modification of the built environment.

The CycloPlasma project combines an innovative adsorbent material and plasma technology to decontaminate wooden structures containing lindane and PCP. The CycloPlasma technique is a revolutionary concept when it comes to renovating and modernizing historical buildings. The method can be applied to all buildings in private and public ownership.

Climate change endangers centuries-old murals, paintings, furniture & textiles. Can the decay be stopped? A cultural journey through space and time.

ENOB aims to help develop a model solution for PlusEnergy depots and archives in line with the requirements of preventive conservation.

The POMPEJI Arch&Lab project aims to contribute to the understanding of the handling of monuments and the sustainable protection of the monumental heritage.

The Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt is an architectural ensemble, a historical and listed building of the Jugendstil.

Fraunhofer is rethinking the linear value chain - with the aim of turning it into a circular, sovereign circular economy.