Private households consume about 30 % of Germany's total primary energy and cause about 15 % of the total CO2 emissions, and so this sector represents a key sector for climate protection targets. Whereas primary energy consumption in buildings is limited by regulations, the production of carbon emissions‐intensive materials is only moving slowly into the focus of legislation, regulations and, ultimately, the perception of society. Considering a thermally conditioned building during its life cycle, most environmental effects are during operation. Nevertheless, the grey energy of a concrete structure can add up to 20 % in individual cases. Owing to the carbon‐intensive cement production, concrete as a material causes relatively high environmental impacts. Logical options appear to be substituting cement with so called by‐products or using recycled additives. In fact, there are only a few projects that have used a resource‐saving concrete. In 2010 in Ludwigshafen, one building in a group of buildings was chosen as the first building in Germany to be built almost completely from recycled concrete without increasing the cement content. It was built as a low‐energy construction and in a zero‐carbon‐emissions area. The project was supported scientifically by the Institute of Energy and Environmental Research in Heidelberg and the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus. The buildings won the Construction Prize 2011 with the distinction “best relation between quality and costs”. This paper discusses integral aspects of the use of recycling concrete from the structural design, eco‐accounting and materials properties perspectives. It demonstrates the potential and opportunities for the quality‐assured use of recycling concrete for sustainable resource management.

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In the 20th century, the classification of structures according to defined building typologies was central to engineering design. Here Professor Klaus Bollinger, Professor Manfred Grohmann and Oliver Tessmann of design engineers Bollinger + Grohmann challenge this preconception. By considering each structure as an individual case in point with inherently complex behaviour, they move away from the notion of a building being a variant of an established type. They further discuss this mode of working, in relation to their own recent projects, in terms of relevant methods and generative techniques, as well as the respective consequences that it has had on the relationship between force, form and structural performance. ArchiGlobe, Lakehouse Patagonia, Argentina, 2007 Different versions of the Lakehouse structure are derived by a generative digital process driven by stochastic as well as arithmetic parameters. Dominique Perrault, Undergound station roof, Piazza Garibaldi, Naples, Italy, 2007 Competiton proposal for the differentiated branching structure. Analysis of the specific load-bearing behaviour of each individual branching structure derived through the evolutionary process. Text © 2008 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Images: pp 20, 22, 23, 25(r) © Bollinger + Grohmann; p 24(tl) © Bollinger + Grohmann, ArchiGlobe; p 24(tr) © Perrault Projets/Adagp; p 24(br) © Fabian Scheurer, designproduction, Zurich; p 25(l) © Cyrille Thomas and SANAA SANAA, Learning Centre, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland, 2008-The artificial landscape of the new Learning Centre includes patios, openings and shell-like regions.Visualisation of the distribution of tension forces within the landscape-like structure.

Computational design techniques are changing the role of analysis tools in collaborations between architects and engineers. Digital feedback loops of synthesis, analysis and evaluation establish a ‘process of becoming’ in which structural solutions evolve and adapt to specific requirements. Highly differentiated constructions are possible when digital techniques are fully integrated in design and production. Klaus Bollinger, Manfred Grohmann and Oliver Tessmann discuss these novel paradigms in relation to recent projects from engineering office Bollinger + Grohmann. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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