Joining Cards - Investigation of the current heterogeneous use of materials and their joining methods in interior finishing systems, which lead to problems in reuse and recycling, and investigate cardboard with regard to a broad application as a standardized interior finishing system.

Climate neutral construction, a sector that is globally responsible for approx. 36% of final energy consumption and approx. 39% of energy-related CO2 emissions, as well as for approx. 40% of resource consumption (approx. 60% in Austria), requires a holistic approach. Accordingly, life cycle assessments as well as environmental product declarations evaluate buildings and building components based on the environmental impact of all building phases (from production to recycling). In addition, the Austrian Climate and Energy Strategy and the European Green Deal emphasize the circular economy, and resilience as the ability of buildings to adapt to different uses in the short and long term. With reference to current building practice, in particular with regard to interior finishing and the associated established dry construction systems, we would like to address the current heterogeneous use of materials and their joining methods in interior finishing systems, which lead to problems in reuse and recycling, and investigate cardboard with regard to a broad application as a standardized interior finishing system. In this context, cardboard offers a lot of potential as a renewable and fully recyclable building material and as a substitute an improved overall energy efficiency of buildings. The general suitability of this material for construction was demonstrated many years ago by the Japanese architect Shigeru Ban using demonstration buildings. Building on this, current research projects such as "BAMP! Building with Paper" at Darmstadt Technical University are investigating the temporary application and optimization of material properties at the material level, as well as design approaches themselves. In addition, a large number of paper and cardboard products exist on the market, which could be used in buildings for various applications. In the course of the contract research the technology of joining cardboard components with regard to structural building systems was identified as the most significant research gap with regard to the application of cardboard as an interior finishing system and object of investigation. The desired result is a comprehensive gain in knowledge in the field of joining technology of cardboard components and component interfaces, with regard to the development of interior construction systems and the verification of selected application concepts in the form of built so-called "one-to-one" investigation models. In addition, further collaborations with potential companies and scientific partners are to be concluded on the basis of letters of intent.