Nachhaltigkeit im Metallleichtbau - Neues Lehr- und Forschungsgebiet an der RWTH Aachen

Sustainable Metal Building Envelopes - New professorship at RWTH Aachen University.

Since 01.07.2015 the new professorship, "Sustainable Metal Building Envelopes", which is supported and promoted by the International Association for Metal Building Envelopes (IFBS), has been established. The professorship, hold by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Markus Kuhnhenne, will deal with aspects of static and structural design, building physics and especially sustainability of building envelopes with lightweight metal constructions in research and education. In addition, a variety of interdisciplinary research themes related to classical topics of steel construction is suitable.
The new professorship meets the growing tasks of research and education for classical as well as new products of lightweight metal construction on an academic level. Thus, the lightweight metal construction as well as the steel construction can maximize their opportunities for synergetic and sustainable solutions in the future.
An important aspect is the consideration of the entire life cycle of a building, as the main idea of sustainable construction is that at all stages of the life cycle of buildings - from planning, construction, use as well as renovation and demolition - a minimization of the of energy consumption and use of resources is envisaged.
Considering the requirements for sustainable construction, metal building products can help to establish resource-efficient buildings viable for the future.