Vision
Adapting to climate change, carbon neutrality, energy, resource and land use efficiency, circularity, and nature conservation are essential to maintaining quality of life and social cohesion. The (pre-)Alpine region is particularly affected by these changes due to limited land available for settlement, migration from rural areas to increasingly populous urban centers, high ecological sensitivity, and extreme weather events.
Construction consumes a great deal of energy, generates waste, and uses up the few remaining reserves of buildable land to the detriment of younger and future generations. Natural areas, agriculture, industry and business, energy generation, and housing compete for space, resulting in high construction and lifecycle costs.
Our vision is therefore a future in which resource- and land-efficient, circular, climate-adapted, and cost-effective construction with the lowest possible impact on ecology and the environment becomes standard practice, and in which all parts of society take on this shared responsibility, especially for generations to come.
Mission
Zentrum Alpines Bauen (Alpine Building Centre) dedicates itself to preserving and further developing the building and settlement culture in the (pre-)Alpine region and the identity that emerges from it. It contributes to a self-determined, equal-opportunity, and just life in a society and environment in transition.
Construction must evolve to meet the challenges of climate change, reduce land and resource use, and support circularity. This requires an efficient energy supply with the broadest possible use of renewable energy, as well as multifunctional building-component systems and building envelopes. System-based construction enables high-quality building with individual adaptation to specific building tasks, cost efficiency, and planning efficiency through digitalization. Future settlements must become more spatially compact, more mixed-use in function, and more efficient in transportation and in the provision of public services.
Values
Future- and Implementation-Oriented Focus
Our research and development work aligns with the future needs of society, people, and businesses in the (pre-)Alpine region.
It is transferable to other regions facing similar challenges and is guided by the perspectives of users, partners, and customers.
Innovation, Quality Awareness, Competition, and Ethics
We not only pursue solutions for the future with passion and personal commitment but also want to shape them as effectively and innovatively as possible through expertise and creativity.
We recognize that research and development achieve the best results when they can proceed freely and safely, while also engaging in an open exchange of ideas and concepts within economic and academic contexts.
We align our research with the rules of good scientific practice and internationally established ethical standards, such as those defined by the “Österreichische Agentur für wissenschaftliche Integrität” (Austrian Agency for Research Integrity).
Appreciation, Respect, and Personal Development
We treat one another, as well as everyone we work with, with appreciation and as equals.
We respect the diversity of society, ways of living, and opinions, but give scientific evidence priority over views that have not yet been confirmed.
The personal development and perspectives of our employees, as well as those of representatives of our academic, business, and other partners, are important to us. We work with people, not institutions.
Sustainability
In our work, we focus on climate-friendly, environmental, and social sustainability, and in our personal lives, we also strive to continuously improve in line with these principles.
Networks
Our involvement in our networks helps us maintain and expand our contacts within the scientific community, and it keeps us informed about ongoing projects, developments, and results in both the current state of science and applied research.
Netzwerk Alpines Bauen (Alpine Building Network)
Alpine building goes hand in hand with know-how in dealing with high-elevation settings, extreme weather, cold conditions, and summer overheating. The requirements for climate-, energy-, and eco-efficiency, along with an increasingly competitive environment, represent just some of the innovation challenges. The Alpine Building Network takes on these challenges. The strength of local companies lies in combining this know-how with regional building materials, construction methods, Alpine building traditions, as well as design and modern technology.
Österreichische Technologieplattform Photovoltaik
The Österreichische Technologieplattform Photovoltaik (TPPV; Austrian Photovoltaic Technology Platform) serves as Austria’s central network for research, development, and innovation in the photovoltaic industry. Since 2008, TPPV has connected companies, research institutions, and policymakers with the shared goal of advancing innovative PV technologies, supporting their market readiness, and increasing value creation in Austria.
RENOWAVE.AT
is the innovation lab for climate-neutral building and district renovations across Austria. As an independent point of contact for innovation initiatives in the renovation sector, RENOWAVE.AT supports initiators of demonstration buildings and districts, among others, to spark momentum toward a climate-neutral building stock. The innovation lab is open to all stakeholders and interested parties. RENOWAVE.AT wants to make high-quality renovations easier, more cost-effective, and faster to implement, and promotes innovation to achieve that goal as weel as designs and provides experimental spaces and lab infrastructure to help move the best ideas forward.
Soil2Heat – Near-Surface Geothermal Energy & Cold District Heating 5.0
The network focuses on connecting stakeholders and interested parties working on collector-based cold district heating networks, and on implementing projects and conducting research in this novel and innovative field of renewable energy. In particular, the combination of near-surface geothermal energy, its collector systems and their specific form of cold district heating networks is increasingly proving to be a key building block of the decarbonization of heating. Together, we implement innovative projects in network-based heat supply through Cold District Heating 5.0 by providing near-surface geothermal energy from ground layers at depths of up to five meters.
Zentrum Alpines Bauen at Salzburg University of Applied Sciences and the Geozentrum Nordbayern at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg jointly coordinate the network.