Boosting Innovation Sustainably in the Construction Sector

NESTA dynamic, adaptive living and working unit

Peter Richner, Empa

Construction is key for sustainability

EconomicDimension

EnvironmentalDimension

SocialDimension

Turnover CH 2009: 54 Mia(Health Care: 58 Mia)

Buildings consume 48%of the end energy in CH

70 Mio t constructionmaterials per year

Challenges in the Construction Sector

Highly fragmented sector

Low innovation dynamics

Flat learning curve

Focus in R&D on materials and systems,hardly ever on integration and user behavior

4

2006 Forum Chriesbach

Redefinition of the state ofthe art in energyconsumption and wateruse

User dominated(working units)

Static

2010 self

Autonomous living andworking unit

Research dominated(1 working and livingunit)

Mobile

?

Vision NEST: Center for Sustainable Construction Science and Engineering

Large scale research backbone, a kind of inverse Lab that enables:

Holistic research: materials components systems users (incl. living and working environment, e.g. guest house)

Provides real life conditions (scale, environment, users)

Dynamic, adaptable, flexible and modular

Attractor for national and international partners from academia and industry

Benefits:Boosting innovative edge of (Swiss) construction industry

Technology Transfer Platform

Development and demonstration of new solutions for local and global challenges in the built environment with clients

Design by Gramazio&Kohler, Zurich

Experimentalarea:

611 m2 per floor

A Holistic and Sustainable Approach

Building Envelope

Use of Energy

Indoor Environment

Technical Water Use

Smart Buildings

Environmental Impact

Advanced Materials &

Systems

Usability Evaluation

Building Envelope

Use of Energy

Indoor Environment

Technical Water Use

Smart Buildings

Environmental Impact

Advanced Materials &

Systems

Socio-economic Studies

Renewable energy

NEST - A Showcase for Cleantech in Construction

Zero or energy positivebuildings

Healthy and comfortableindoor climate

Resource recovery fromwaste water on site

High performance insulation materials

Demand oriented controll strategies

Closed material cycles inconstruction

Smart Windows

Low CO2 construction materials

Light weight construction

Operation of NEST

Clustering of rooms in order to address specific research topics (energy, building envelope, technical water use, …)

International calls for projects for each cluster for partners from academia and industry

Student projects, PhD’s

Regular conferences, seminars and exhibition days related to advanced building technologies and innovation in the construction sector

Finances (construction plus 5y operation)

Cost

Backbone 15 Mio

First generation 7.5 Mioof experiments(1.5 Mio per floor)

Running costs (5 y) 5 Mio(1 Mio per year)

Total: 27.5 Mio

Sourcing

Own contribution 5 MioEmpa 4 Mio

Eawag 1 Mio

ETH Domain 3 Mio

Sponsors 19.5 Mio(1 main sponsor plusseveral medium sponsors)

Total 27.5 Mio

Opportunities for Sponsors

High national and international visibilityBeing part of a unique research and technology development facility

Repeated international calls for projects

Nest Website with information on all ongoing projects with special area for sponsors (similar to Rolex Learning Center)

Use of Nest for own and customer events

Platform for collaboration with partners and clients from academia and industry in a highly innovative surrounding

Industrial Contacts Sponsoring and/or Projects Holcim Siemens Building Technologies Geberit BASF Glas Troesch 3A Composites Sacac Implenia Priora Karl Steiner AG Strabag

Belimo EgoKiefer Sika Hilti Velux Zehnder Group

Presentation and very positive Feedback

22

2006 Forum Chriesbach

Redefinition of the state ofthe art in energyconsumption and wateruse

User dominated(working units)

Static

2010 self

Autonomous living andworking unit

Research dominated(1 working and living unit)

Mobile

2013 Nest

Holistic: from materialsto systems to users (withworking and living units)

Research and TechnologyTransfer dominated

Dynamic, Adaptable

Empa / P. Gröning 23

NEST: An opportunity for you?