Funding body: Federal Ministry of Education and Research

Project duration: 06/2024 to 11/2025

The construction and real estate industry is a central component of the global economic structure and faces serious environmental challenges due to its significant contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions. According to the 2020 Global Status Report for Buildings and Constructions, the industry is directly and indirectly responsible for around 40% of emissions, with 11% coming from the production of building materials. These figures underline the urgent need to implement more sustainable construction methods and position the industry as a driving force for innovative, sustainable developments in order to achieve the ambitious goals of the European Green Deal.

NaConBau research project and research partners

At the heart of these efforts is the NaConBau research project, the main aim of which is to develop an innovative controlling tool to promote sustainable and resource-efficient building materials. This project is a collaboration between the University of Wuppertal and the company List Eco.

Sub-project NaConBau-BUW

In the NaConBau-BUW sub-project, the University of Wuppertal is concentrating on the development of technical requirements for the controlling tool, particularly with regard to the data required for life cycle assessment calculations. A central aspect is the training of a machine learning model for automated data extraction from product data sheets and environmental product declarations (EPDs). After validation and optimization of the model, a graph database with the automatically extracted building product information will be created. The tool is intended to be versatile, from material selection in the tender phase to documentation in the project completion phase, and to provide transparent evidence of compliance with sustainability targets.

NaConBau-List sub-project

In the NaConBau-List sub-project, List Eco is dedicated to determining specific information requirements and identifying more sustainable building materials to be integrated into the tool database. This enables the provision of alternative building product options. List Eco provides support throughout the tool development process to clarify technical issues and ensure user-friendliness. In collaboration with project partners, the tool will be tested on a real construction project to check its practicality and make further optimizations if necessary.

This project aims to sensitize construction companies, in particular the building trade, to the use of more sustainable and resource-saving building materials. It is intended to serve as a decision-making basis for the selection of construction products and provide transparent evidence of sustainability goals during construction. It also enables public clients to continuously monitor and evaluate compliance with sustainability targets, effectively supporting construction companies in assessing material costs in the context of sustainability targets.