Forschungskolleg Verbund.NRW
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The building sector is of high societal and social importance (e.g. urbanization, regional economic impact, health aspects, affordable, sufficient housing) and also has great resource relevance (50% of resource and 35% of energy consumption, over 50% of waste volumes). The focus of the inter- and transdisciplinary collaboration in the research college of RWTH Aachen University and FH Münster University of Applied Sciences over the next 3 ½ years will be the validation of selected multifunctional fiber and layer composites using concrete case studies from practice. Taking the entire life cycle into account, it will be evaluated when and how the use of composite systems is sustainably possible. The focus is on investigations into the implementation of improved deconstructability and sorted recycling of the materials contained in composites at the end of their life, while avoiding negative consequences for people and the environment. The development of innovative business models and economic incentives should enable circular product design. Sociocultural criteria, such as social megatrends in the design of buildings and spaces, will be increasingly considered.
Over the project period from January 2021 to June 2024, the following institutes and chairs of RWTH Aachen University are involved under the leadership and coordination of the TEER:
- Department of Antrhopogenic Material Cycles
- Institute of Building Materials Research
- Research Unit International Economics
- Institute of Sociology
- Chair of Operations Management
- Chair of Management Accounting
- Institut für Textiltechnik
The following institutes and chairs are involved at FH Münster University of Applied Sciences:
- Institute for Infrastructure Water Resources Environment
- Institut für unterirdisches Bauen
- Lehr- und Forschungsgebit Geotechnik und Bauverfahrenstechnik
The network is expanding to include scientific as well as practical players such as Aachen Building Experts e.V., Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie gGmbH, re!source Stiftung e.V., Deutsche Gesellschaft für Abfallwirtschaft e.V. (DGAW), Landmarken AG/ Moringa GmbH, Hering Bau GmbH & Co. KG and Lindner Group KG.
The work at TEER will mainly focus on optimizing the thermal processing of fiber composites. In interdisciplinary cooperation, ecological and socio-economic evaluation methods will also be included.
The research college is funded by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia with a total of about 2.2 million euros over three and a half years.
Further information can be found on the project's homepage.
In the first funding period of the Forschungskolleg Verbund.NRW, the focus was on increasing resource efficiency in the use of composite materials and structures in the construction industry.