Gold star for S&T centre

• Science hub rebuilds with recycled concrete
• Earns a 'gold certificate' for the sustainable efforts 

Heilbronn, a city in Germany, opened in 2015 a science and technology (S&T) centre which was funded by the European Union and the German state Baden-Württemberg. Besides the modern equipment in the restaurant and conference areas, the main feature of the construction project was the use of recycled concrete (RC concrete).

In the three buildings, which covered 7 700 m2, about 5 500 m3 of RC concrete has been used. That is a direct sustainable contribution to the gravel extraction that could be reduced by using RC concrete for this project.

Key impact

In addition to the material aspect, less transportation and thereby energy was required during the construction as the supplier of the RC concrete was close to the site.

The building gained a gold certificate from the German Sustainable Building Council (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen).