Opportunities and challenges in the construction value chain – a research perspective

The construction sector plays a key role in achieving the national sustainability goals. When implementing sustainable and circular principles, companies are confronted with various challenges, but also opportunities. On the one hand, stricter legislative requirements and increasing verification obligations are putting pressure on all stakeholders to implement these principles. Low levels of digitalization, insufficient knowledge, loss of knowledge along the life cycle phases and the prevailing shortage of skilled workers make the implementation of circular value creation more difficult. Furthermore, implementation measures in the context of sustainability are often associated with high initial investments, which can represent an additional business risk. On the other hand, the implementation of sustainability also offers the opportunity to make a significant contribution to current social and political goals. In addition, sustainable and circular principles offer economic incentives through medium to long-term cost reductions and the generation of new sources of income. In addition to expanding their own value creation activities, new circular business models enable greater value chain resilience and the more intensive development of long-term customer relationships. In order to overcome the challenges described and build up more knowledge to exploit the opportunities outlined, R&D activities need to be intensified, among other things. As part of numerous national research projects (Fig. 1), the Chair and Institute of Construction Management, Digital Engineering and Robotics in Construction is researching tailored solution-oriented approaches for relevant stakeholders across the entire construction value chain in the context of sustainability and circular construction, representative examples of which will be presented and discussed during the presentation.