With the municipal timber construction information system - "Holzbau-GIS" for short - Prof. Annette Hafner and her colleagues at the Chair of Resource-Efficient Construction have developed a tool that can be used to calculate additional greenhouse gas reduction potential that can be achieved by building with wood. On 4 December 2023, the "Holzbau-GIS" project was awarded the Humboldtⁿ Initiative Sustainability Prize.

"We are delighted to receive the Sustainability Award. It recognises our efforts to make research findings related to sustainability practicable and manageable," says award winner Prof. Dr Annette Hafner. "The transfer into practice has a model character. Our system is the first to combine geodata with life cycle assessment data for new builds and refurbishments, enabling us to make statements about reduction potential," adds Caya Zernicke from the working group.

You can find detailed information on the "Holzbau-GIS" project on the website of the Chair of Resource-Efficient Construction.

The "Holzbau-GIS" project shares first place with the "Liveable streets, places and neighbourhoods" project by Dr Steven März from the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy and the lecture series "Digital Medicine goes Planetary Health" by Julia Nitsche from Witten/Herdecke University. The winners are delighted with the prize money of 20,000 euros, which will be divided equally between the three projects.

The Rector of the Ruhr-Universität, Prof Dr Martin Paul, also praised the work of Prof Hafner and her team: "The Holzbau-GIS project brings the immense curiosity, tireless motivation and innovative strength of our researchers into direct contact with the social challenges of sustainable development. This award confirms that the Ruhr-Universität is on the right track in building this bridge between science and everyday life."