Presentation of the Wienerberger masonry robot
On November 12, 2024, the presentation of Wienerberger's new masonry robot took place at the HTBLVA Graz Ortweinschule. Members of the “REUSE brick wall” research project took part in the presentation of the pioneering technology, which is set to revolutionize traditional masonry with individual bricks.
The robot combines precise work with efficiency and shows that innovations are not only possible in the field of large-format precast elements, but can also significantly advance traditional construction methods. This development could not only counteract the shortage of skilled workers, but also increase quality and sustainability in the construction industry.
IBPSA DACH
Christina Hopfe was elected president of IBPSA DACH (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) on 25th September during the BauSIM 2024 conference in Vienna, Austria.
In this role, she looks forward to bringing the international IBPSA conference to Austria for the first time.
Interview REHVA Journal
In 2024, the REHVA Journal had the pleasure of presenting a series of interviews, created and produced by vice-president, Lada Hensen Centnerová. This series aimed to share insightful conversations with four experts whose work is directly or indirectly related to climate change and the growing issue of building overheating in the European temperate climate. Christina Hopfe featured as third interviewee focussing on various methods for designing resilient buildings, including the Passivhaus standard.
The interview can be read at www.rehva.eu/rehva-journal/chapter/interview-with-christina-johanna-hopfe-1
Expert Talk: Certified Sustainable Building
What is a green building?
Why are building certifications becoming increasingly important and which ones are already available on the market?
These and other questions were discussed on October 8, 2024 at Steiermärkische Sparkasse 's expert talk on real estate and project financing. Hans Hafellner gave property developers, project developers and interested parties exciting insights into the topic of sustainable buildings and sustainable construction. The expert talk resulted in a lively audience discussion about the opportunities and challenges of sustainable buildings. In particular, the current regulatory situation, which still leaves some questions unanswered and makes consistent implementation more difficult, led to a lively discussion.
Many thanks for this to Steiermärkische Sparkasse!
Photos: © Thomas Raggam and Margit Kundigraber
The zero-degree roof: Expert roundtable on potentials and challenges
At the roundtable on 19 September 2024 organized by the team of the trade journal Dach Wand, Ass. Prof. Hans Hafellner and other experts intensively discussed the future of the zero-degree roof in two rounds of talks. These constructions offer the opportunity to recognize weaknesses as well as strengths of the construction method, especially in times of extreme weather conditions. Despite the diverse opinions from the audience and the panel of experts, there was a consensus that zero-degree roofs will continue to be of interest in the future.
Video Shoot Barriers in Existing Buildings
On 20 September, a video was shot on the topic of ‘Barriers in existing buildings’ using teaching and learning technologies.
Existing buildings are being extensively refurbished to combat climate change. As part of the refurbishment measures, particular emphasis is placed on the circular economy, sustainability and technical solutions for the future. However, the diversity of the people who use the buildings is often forgotten. The conversion of existing buildings in particular poses major challenges for refurbishments, which are at odds with monument protection and costs. A video was produced at Rechbauerstraße 12 to draw attention to the barriers in historic buildings.
The video will be used in teaching and will be available after the voiceover recordings.
IBPSA BauSIM 2024
From September 23th -26th 2024, the IBPSC visited the BauSIM in Vienna. Four conference papers were presented. These were given by Mr. DI Lukas Edl, Mr. DI Severin Kysela, Ass.Prof. Dr. Hans Hafellner, Prof. Michael Monsberger and Prof. Christina Hopfe. The next BauSIM will take place in 2026.
Excursion to Graz-Karlau prison with IKK
As part of the Building and Industrial Construction course, a construction site tour of the Karlau prison in Graz took place on 19 April 2024. Organised by the company IKK, which is responsible for the local construction supervision (ÖBA), the students of Graz University of Technology were given a detailed insight into the ongoing renovation work on wings A, B and C.
The tour enabled the participants to see the progress of the construction work in the various stages of realisation. Of particular interest was the direct comparison between the areas that have already been renovated and those that are still being remodelled. Accompanied by prison officers, a detention room was also visited.
After the construction site tour, the students were invited to IKK Group GmbH, where they were given a tour of the office and a cosy evening on the roof terrace to gain further insights into the work of IKK. The managing director and project manager were available for lively discussions.
Many thanks to the head of ÖBA, Martin Döpper, for organising the event. It was an instructive day that was very well received by all participants.
For further information and impressions, please visit the IKK Group website hier.
Presentation of the CLT_Plumbing_Design project at the IHF in Innsbruck
Thanks to our project partner Mayr Melnhof Holz, DDipl.-Ing. Petra Fortmüller and her project colleague Dipl.-Ing. Dominik Matzler from holz.bau forschungs gmbh had the wonderful opportunity to present our joint research project CLT_Plumbing_Design to over 2800 participants at the International Timber Construction Forum in Innsbruck from 29 November to 1 December 2023. There was great interest in our holistically conceived, timber construction-appropriate bathroom installation solutions and we are delighted with the positive feedback! Thanks also to our project partner MHS for building the mock-up!
You can find more project information at:
https://www.tugraz.at/institute/ibpsc/forschung/forschungsprojekte/laufende-projekte/clt-plumbing-design
Prize for Teaching Excellence 2022/23
The module “Low Carbon Building Design and Communities” developed and taught by Prof. Christina Hopfe and Prof. Robert McLeod was nominated and shortlisted for the Prize for Teaching Excellence 2022/23. They joined the prestigious shortlist of 14 teams nominated for this award out of the entire portfolio of modules taught at TU Graz. The award ceremony took place on Wednesday 15. November 2023.
The Styrian Housing Symposium 2023
Credit: Lebensressort/Lorber
The Styrian Housing Symposium 2023 with the topic “Healthy Building and Living” took place on Wednesday, October 4th in the auditorium of the TU Graz. Univ.-Prof Dr DI Christina Hopfe was one of the seven speakers. She discussed risks and prevention strategies during heat waves and overheating in her lecture. More information at: https://www.meinviertel.at/steiermark/c-lokales/steirisches-wohnbausymposium-2023-gesundes-machen-und-wohnen_a6304037
New Vice Rector for Infrastructure and Sustainability
Since October 1, 2023, Univ. Prof. Dr DI Michael Monsberger has taken on the role of Vice Rector for Infrastructure and Sustainability. The institute wishes him every success in his new role.
Viva Dipl.-Ing. Rainer Partl
On 25.09.2023 our former colleague Dipl.-Ing. Rainer Partl passed his doctoral viva with distinction. The topic of his doctoral thesis was "Ontology for describing and representing project-organizational relationships in the planning process of MEP systems in a formal way".
Supervisor of the thesis was Univ.-Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr.techn. Michael Monsberger. Further reviewers were Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Raimar Scherer, as well as Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christoph Motzko. Assoc.Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr.techn. Christian Hofstadler chaired the viva.
Viva Dipl.-Ing. Daniel Rüdisser
On August 18th, 2023, Dipl.-Ing. Daniel Rüdisser passed his doctoral viva with distinction. In his PhD thesis "RadiCal - A novel method to model energy flows induced by solar radiation", a new method for determining solar-induced energy flows for glazing, shading devices and further building components was developed, validated and tested. Further information can be found at https://bit.ly/3KLoc6A . The thesis was supervised by Prof. Michael Monsberger. Prof. John Mardaljevic (Loughborough University) acted as the second reviewer. Assoc. Prof. Dorothee Hippler chaired the viva.
IBPSC becomes runners-up in the TÜV Austria science award 2022
The IBPSC came runner up in the category "entreprise" (german: Unternehmen) at the TÜV Austria science awards 2022 for the CovEd project led by Prof Robert McLeod.
For further information, please watch our youtube video - Thanks so much for the support of our Rektor Harald Kainz and the Max Planck Institute.
IBPSA BauSIM 2022
From September 20th -22nd 2022, the IBPSC visited the BauSIM in Weimar. Five conference papers were presented. These were given by Mr. DI Fatos Pollozhani, Mr. DI Daniel Rüdisser, Dr Matej Gustin, Ass Prof Dr Hans Hafellner, and Prof Rob McLeod. Prof Christina Hopfe gave one of the three keynotes on the topic "Can we unleash the power of simulation to change the world?" Daniel Rüdisser won one of the scientific prizes with his paper on "Application of the RadiCal-method to model solar gains through the building envelope". Many congratulations! The next BauSIM will take place in 2024 at the Vienna University of Technology. We look forward to participating.
Inauguration
On Friday 10th June 2022 we celebrated the inauguration (German ‘Antrittsvorlesung’) of three new professors in our institute. In a ceremony held in the Aula room of Rechbauerstaße 12, at TU Graz, Professor’s, McLeod, Monsberger and Hopfe delivered their inaugural speeches, with the following titles:
- Prof. McLeod – “CO2, Mindfulness and Doughnuts – delivering research impact in the 21st century”
- Prof. Monsberger – “Gebäudetechnik im Kontext der Digitalisierung – Herausforderungen und Perspektiven”
- Prof. Hopfe – “A stargazer’s guide to building physics in the 21st century”
The event was hosted by the Dean Prof. Martin Schanz with a welcome speech by the Vice Rector Prof. Horst Bischof. Following the speeches, food and drink were served in the outside courtyard and the festivities continued late into the night. We would like to extend a warm thank you to all our guests and colleagues who attended and supported this very special event.
Construction Site Excursion May 2022
As part of the course Building and Industrial Construction, an excursion was made to the construction site of the buildings "Data House" and "SAL Building" of the Bundesimmobiliengesellschaft.
Accompanied by of the responsible persons of the clients, the planning and the building physics very interesting information about the planning and the building process could be imparted to the excursion participants.
The IBPSC thanks very much for the opportunity to visit the construction site.
You can find more information about the buildings here:
Foundation Stone laid for two new Research Centers at TU Graz
Data House und SAL Building (German)
Dufton Silver Medal 2021
Univ.-Prof Dr Hopfe receives the Dufton Silver Medal for 2021 for the journal paper "Balancing daylight and overheating in low-energy design using CIBSE improved weather files" available at https://lnkd.in/dKxmvGmb written by Eleonora Brembilla, John Mardaljevic, Anastasia Mylona, Eirini Mantesi and herself.
The paper considers the requirements to balance the light available in a space so as to reduce overheating risk, adopting a newly developed solar radiation model. More information at https://lnkd.in/deyu2dqp
The Dufton medal (last awarded in 1999) is awarded for papers relating to fundamental research.
