The research area with proven competences

Since January 1, 2019, the TUW has been enriched by the research area "Ecological Building Technologies". Under the leadership of Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr. techn. Azra Korjenic, the already long-standing, successful research and teaching activities at the former Institute of Structural Engineering and Technology are thus continued and expanded. The goal of increasing the market share of ecological building can only be achieved through reliable, scientifically based statements related to materials and construction. An important focus of the completed, ongoing and future planned projects of the research institution is therefore also on cooperating with the industry in order to contribute to the optimization of existing solutions and the development of new ones, and thus to continue exactly where the results will later be applied to. From building materials to constructions to buildings and further to streetscapes and entire city districts. The strongly application-oriented investigations range from material and construction analyses in the extensively equipped laboratory to true-to-scale tests in the outdoor facilities of the research area to in-situ measurements and evaluations on the buildings at the project site. Parallel to the metrological investigations, various simulations are also carried out, for example regarding the hygrothermal behavior of constructions...

Comprehensive research work in three main research areas:

1. Ecological materials and constructions
   At the eco outdoor test stand, which is located in the outdoor facility of the research area, ecological construction materials are continuously tested under real conditions and monitored by measurement. This test stand, which was already built in 2014, will now give way to a new version and be replaced by a modular, rotatable outdoor test stand that meets the requirements of flexibility and through which further research questions can be addressed in collaboration with the industry.
2. Green and innovative constructions and buildings
   Greening of buildings represents another focus. In addition to vertical greening in the form of façade- or wall-mounted greening systems, various green roof variants and environmental greening are also being studied in detail with regard to their effects on building physics and microclimate. Thus, not only statements can be made about the influence of greened walls on hygrothermal comfort, CO₂ and dust concentration, noise reduction, etc. in the interior, but also the change of the heat transfer coefficient and energetic effects can be determined. 
3. Green and Smart Cities
   While the focus of the work on the test bench and with greening systems tends to be on individual structures and buildings, the third research focus "Smart and green cities" also examines streetscapes and entire city districts using measurement and simulation techniques and illustrates the effects of various sustainable measures as part of the planning process.