Title: Development of the teaching program "AbBau - Lehrmaterialien zu Kreislaufwirtschaft und Abfallvermeidung im Baubereich" and its integration in Austrian HTLs.

Duration: 08/2017 - 03/2020

Funding body: VKS Verpackungskoordinierungsstelle gemeinnützige GmbH

Partner: Austrian Ecology Institute

Background of the project: The construction sector is responsible for two thirds of waste generation and half of resource consumption in Austria. In order to be able to deal with the limited resources available in the future in an economical and environmentally friendly way and to use potentials to a high degree, a rethinking in the direction of circular economy and sustainable building design is indispensable.

Brief description of the project: In the AbBau project, teaching materials for higher technical colleges (HTLs) on circular building design in the construction industry were developed, with the aim of integrating them into teaching in the medium term and into the curriculum in the long term. After a status survey of the teaching content, the modularly structured documents were then elaborated in consultation with the HTL teachers, evaluated and adapted according to feedback.

Target group: The documents are aimed at teachers and students in the 12th and 13th grades of HTLs in the construction sector. The application is interdisciplinary and possible for cooperative learning forms. Thanks to the modular structure of the material, individual focal points can be set. It is possible to integrate the teaching materials, for example, in the subjects of construction engineering and structural engineering technology and to use them in the construction or design laboratory. The teaching modules contribute to the integration of multi-layered aspects around circular economy in vocational education and training and can also be used by companies.

Contents: The material consists of a total of five modules that can be used individually or in combination.  Four of the modules are theoretical (module 1, 2, 4, 5) whereas module 3 is a practical tool for assessing the circularity of buildings:

    Module 1 - Introduction to Circular Economy
    Module 2 - Principles of circular construction
    Module 3 - Tool for assessing the circularity of buildings
    Module 4 - Consideration of environmental impacts along the life cycle
    Module 5 - Mapping of circularity at product and building level

all modules are free to download (German language). 

In terms of content, the modules are distinguished from the thematically related project "InBa -Integration of waste prevention in education and training in the construction industry" by a different focus. The focus of "InBa-Unterlagen" is mainly on the topics of waste management law and "avoidance of construction waste", whereas in this project the focus is also on "circularity as a planning task" and methods of environmental assessment. This results in a good supplementation of the documents in terms of content.