During the past 20 years a strong increase in raw material demand has been evident and the OECD is forecasting further increases in raw material demands by a factor of 2.1, until 2060. Concurrently, the ecological footprint exceeds the worlds biocapacity by 1.7 times. The construction sector consumes a large amount of the total raw materials extracted from the lithosphere (47.5 Gt worldwide), uses 40% of the total energy, and is responsible for 40% of all solid waste. Closed material circle-oriented solutions at minimal environmental impact, from construction, operation to disassembly and reuse, should be considered throughout the sector and will without a doubt gain in importance in future projects. The construction sector is lacking resilience, as evidenced by low material efficiency, lack of digitalisation in processing, supply chains and reverse logistics, climate regulatory measures, as well as the inclusion of heritage experiences. Reasons are institutional inertia, slow adaption of new technologies, and a significant lack in multi-dimensional thinking by focusing primarily on construction phases and associated costs. The doctoral school programme BUILD.NATURE promotes an inter- and transdisciplinary research regarding the design and construction of life cycle-oriented building technologies for the future society. This ambitious programme emphasises on minimising environmental impacts, integration of structures in natural peripheries, design and adaptations of buildings for future climates, low to no-waste strategies, and low energy consumption.

Research areas include but are not limited to:

  1. Design and construction of climate-resilient buildings with minimal environmental impact;
  2. Materials and engineered construction elements (wood-based, bio-based, fully-recyclable),
  3. Embedding heritage values and knowledge;
  4. Urban greening and green retrofit as a climate adaptive strategy;
  5. Recycling, circular living and life cycle strategies;
  6. Material supply chains and reverse logistics;
  7. Resource availability and quality in a changing climate;
  8. Biomimetics – design to model nature;
  9. Wood product processing and digitalisation.

The envisioned programme uniquely combines existing and newly established BOKU competences and will build a strong domestic and international network of excellence.