Construction of a Workbox as Part of an EU Research Project

Construction of a demonstrator as part of the research project “Biobased Products” as the starting signal for a NaWaRo competence center in the Kottenforst Business Park in Meckenheim

In the Bonn/Rhein-Sieg region, the three higher education institutions University of Bonn, Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences, and Alanus University have leading expertise in the development and application of biobased products. The overall strategy of the planned project is to focus the interdisciplinary cooperation of all three higher education institutions in the field of the “Biobased Products Competence Focus.” This will also involve much closer collaboration with companies from NRW in the field of the material utilization of renewable raw materials for the production of new biobased materials for a wide variety of applications. This project is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Through this initiative, the merger will now create significant synergies from what have so far mostly been bilateral research activities among the partners, thereby substantially increasing the output of the region’s application-oriented research and innovation potential. The universities, companies, and municipalities are already united in the “bio innovation park Rheinland e.V.”, newly founded in 2015, and have already launched initial joint projects, such as the BMU project “Climate-Neutral Science and Business Park.” The participating companies were consulted on the need for future developments in individual meetings as well as joint events and expert forums prior to the submission of the application. These findings can be transferred to the whole of NRW. As a result, the following three groups of biobased products were identified as particularly promising: biobased packaging (subproject 1), building materials (subproject 2), and bioactive additives (subproject 3).

The bachelor’s thesis by Julian Weber and Raphael Reichert is part of subproject 2: NRW/ERDF funding initiative for research infrastructures, FKZ EFRE-0500036. To achieve the internationally agreed climate protection targets, it is necessary to develop new sustainable building materials whose market presence is currently still too limited. Therefore, building on the preparatory work of the various universities and companies, the institutions’ particular expertise is to be pooled in order to bring alternative and safe building products to market as quickly as possible. The main goals of the subproject are the improvement of the research infrastructure and strengthening of the research network, the opening up of new fields of application for environmentally friendly building materials made from “low-input” renewable raw materials, and exemplary implementation through the production of demonstrators using the newly developed building materials.

This is where the bachelor’s thesis begins. The topic is to build a demonstrator from renewable raw materials, the so-called “Workbox.” The idea is to combine miscanthus, paulownia and other renewable raw materials, as well as building materials such as clay and straw, and demonstrate the extent to which these renewable raw and building materials can be viable for the future. The Workbox will include two changing rooms and a storage room for equipment and machinery, essentially making it a somewhat larger garden shed.

The bachelor’s thesis is divided into a total of five phases: Phase A: site analysis, Phase B: conceptual design, Phase C: detailed design, Phase D: construction process, Phase E: presentation & documentation. Phases A to C have already been completed. The location of the “Workbox” will be a site in the Kottenforst Business Park of the City of Meckenheim. In the northwest of the city is a large commercial area, the Kottenforst Business Park. With this development, the City of Meckenheim is entering new urban planning dimensions. With a total area of 45 hectares, it amounts to around one third of the old Kottenforst Industrial Park, which covers 137 hectares and borders it directly opposite to the northwest. As the owner, the City of Meckenheim is deliberately focusing on sustainable success rather than short-term profits.

To shape the profile of the business park, the economic development agency developed settlement criteria. These include, among other things, belonging to the “bio innovation” industry cluster or a position within the “precision horticulture” value creation model, the resource-efficient use of space, the development, design, and use of the plots, especially building with wood and the use of renewable energies as well as other climate protection measures. The near-natural design goes hand in hand with the forward-looking settlement criteria laid down in the Kottenforst Business Park: the use of photovoltaic systems on roofs and walls, the use of green electricity, SoWORKBOX lar thermal energy, geothermal energy, the energetic use of renewable raw materials, and energy generation through combined heat and power (CHP systems). Initial plots have since been sold, and further specific advisory and settlement discussions are ongoing. The Workbox site is located on the eastern edge of the Kottenforst Business Park, directly on the L261, and is to be developed in several construction phases. The goal of a possible final development is to create a competence center containing the Workbox, a showroom, a research laboratory, an office, as well as fields for experimenting with prototypes and cultivating renewable raw materials such as miscanthus and paulownia.

Project staff
Julian Weber
Raphael Reichert

Supervisors
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Mathias Wirths
Jano Knopp

Funding
European Union
This project was funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
State of North Rhine-Westphalia