The Institute of Building Construction develops building envelopes of the future with the aim of achieving high architectural appeal and impressive transparency while at the same time ensuring material efficiency and reducing building energy demand. The institute's research focus on glass and facade construction includes safe, life-cycle-oriented, and intelligent designs. These contribute to a sustainable construction and resilient buildings of the future. Innovative solutions are developed through a combination of experimental, analytical, and numerical investigations. The associated Friedrich-Siemens-Laboratory specializes in testing glass, facades, adhesives, and composite materials and is an important part of experimental research. The institute is divided into three research groups with different research focuses in the field of glass and facade construction: “Glass Design & Construction,” “Energy Efficiency & Sustainability,” and “Adhesive Bonding & Laminates.”


The Institute of Building Construction offers a wide range of courses in basic and advanced civil engineering studies, as well as in the ACCESS master's program and other fields of study. Sustainability is anchored as a fundamental component and benchmark in teaching. Innovative teaching projects and the application of new didactic methods complement the courses. Our goal is to enable future engineers to design resource-efficient and resilient buildings. To make this knowledge accessible outside the curriculum, we are continuously developing open educational resources.



The institute places great importance to the dissemination of knowledge and regularly organizes events, such as the GlasbauDresden and various continuing education programs, to share the latest research results with experts and industry. This facilitates exchange with professional practice and interested parties from other disciplines at various levels. The international partner network and support from industry as well as national and European institutions such as the EU, DFG, BMWE, BMBFTR, BMELH, and SAB enable the Institute of Building Construction to play a key role in research in the field of glass and facade construction.