Resource-efficient structural design

The building and construction industry is by far the most resource intensive sector in the European Union [1] and the numbers worldwide are comparable. This sector, which is based on a very strong responsibility of architects as well structural engineers takes approximately 50% of all primary raw materials and therefor exhausting natural resources substantially. In the past decades the focus in the construction industry was mainly on the reduction of energy consumption of buildings as well as use of renewable energy, but the impact of material use will be in the spotlight in the future as well.