Planning and building for the future: innovative — sustainable — digital

As a central foundation of every society, building is one of humanity's oldest cultural technologies. In addition to the triad of "strength, utility, and beauty" (Vitruvius, ca. 80–15 BC) formulated in ancient times, the complex issue of sustainability has now been added as a decisive fourth dimension: according to the VDI, the construction industry contributes approximately 40 percent to national greenhouse gas emissions, with enormous use of material resources.

Preserving, upgrading, thinking and acting in cycles are therefore challenges that the construction sector will have to face even more in the future than in the past. These challenges range from the development of materials that are both high-performance and resource-efficient, and numerical simulation for optimizing building structures, to "digital twins" that can accompany the life cycle of a real building as a replica, and additive manufacturing ("3D printing"), which sets new standards for free and equally efficient design, to robot-assisted construction.

The symposium addresses key social and technological challenges in the construction industry and presents innovative solutions from the field of engineering sciences.