Controlling Sustainability through Structural Design
The construction industry faces considerable challenges, as construction activity will increase significantly in the coming years to maintain ageing infrastructure and meet the growing global demand for residential and commercial space. At the same time, this opens the door to further developing construction processes sustainably and significantly reducing the industry’s ecological footprint.
The ecological sustainability of structures can be significantly influenced during the design phase. As part of a research project, Professor Walter Kaufmann’s research group at the Institute of Structural Engineering at ETH Zurich is examining sustainability in structural design independently of the materials used. The project was launched in collaboration with industry partners and aims to identify the most important levers available to structural engineers for the design of structures, in a practice-oriented manner, and to quantify their effects using scientific methods. In future, this knowledge will be passed on to both prospective and practising engineers in block and continuing education courses.
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