Green Light for three Berlin Real-world Laboratories
How can building materials be used sustainably or medicines be transported more quickly in the city? And how can water be used more sustainably? Three Berlin "Reallabore" (“real-world laboratories”) are addressing these issues. The Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises is funding the projects with a total of nine million euros. The projects were selected as part of a new funding competition organised and announced by the Berlin Senate.
The B(e)Ware project aims to examine planning and construction processes and examine the extent to which used building materials can be reused. The ‘IWIQ’ project focuses on recycling only slightly contaminated ‘grey water’ – for example, for watering gardens. And ‘U-Space Berlin’ wants to test the transport of light goods such as medicines over the ‘last mile’ in urban areas.
All three projects aim to make concrete improvements to people's everyday lives through innovation. Testing their viability under real-life conditions is the approach of a new programme, which was initiated by the Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises in 2023. It aims at promoting business-oriented real-world laboratories. Fifty-six projects applied for the first call for funding, which focused on ‘value creation through innovation in the neighbourhood’ and was divided into five thematic areas: ‘Climate-friendly design of energy supply (especially heat) and water management’, ‘Mobility and logistics (including micro-logistics)’, ‘Organisation of climate-neutral material cycles and supply chains’, ‘Optimisation of land use (multicoding)’ and ‘Soft infrastructure’ (especially safety and health). Ten projects were then selected for a six-month concept phase, during which they were able to refine and develop their ideas. IWIQ, B(e)Ware and U-Space Berlin were selected at the end of August 2025 to receive a total of nine million euros in funding over the next three years. The Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin) will receive around 3.1 million euros of this, as it is involved in all three real-world laboratories as a project partner.
"With the three selected real-world laboratories, we are promoting innovations made in Berlin – from the idea to the application. IWIQ, B(e)Ware and U-Space Berlin are developing solutions that will be used in everyday life and make a direct contribution to greater sustainability and quality of life," said Senator for Economic Affairs Franziska Giffey. Berlin has enormous potential for creative, innovative solutions from science and industry.
The focus of the Senate competition is to make the funded applications economically viable. Real-world laboratories bring together science, business and citizens to test innovative solutions directly in practice and to advance the development of technologies and solutions for future challenges such as climate change and resource scarcity. TU President Prof. Dr. Geraldine Rauch also emphasised the importance of the projects for the city: ‘Each of these real-world laboratories opens up new opportunities for Berlin for a sustainable future.’ The use of real-world laboratories is part of TU Berlin's research strategy. The university has bundled more than 25 projects on the ‘StadtManufaktur’ platform. (vdo)
The three funded real-world laboratories
B(e)Ware – radical rethinking in the construction sector
The B(e)Ware project aims to test planning and construction processes involving reusable building materials. In the real-world laboratory, local, used building materials such as wooden beams and steel girders are to be returned to the value chain in the construction sector as supporting structures. The concept is being implemented for the first time in three Berlin construction projects: the TULIUM exhibition pavilion on the Charlottenburg campus of the Technische Universität Berlin, a water rescue station on Lake Müggelsee, and a workshop building for the Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz’s (German Foundation for Monument Protection's) youth building workshop.
Project partners: Natural Building Lab at the TU Berlin (network coordination), ZRS Architekten und Ingenieure GvA mbH, associated partners from the fields of e.g., materials testing, logistics, demolition, construction products.
IWIQ – Reducing drinking water consumption by up to 60 per cent
The IWIQ project aims to contribute to a future-proof water supply and heat transition. In the real-world laboratory, the recycling of grey water (slightly polluted wastewater, e.g. after showering, washing hands or machine washing) from households with simultaneous heat recovery is to be implemented for the first time in existing buildings. To this end, detailed 3D models of buildings in Berlin are being created to enable pipe and system planning – because a completely new water cycle must be installed.
Project partners: Kompetenzzentrum Wasser Berlin gGmbH (network coordination), Nolde – innovative Wasserkonzepte GmbH, TU Berlin, Contecht GmbH, Howoge Wohnungsbaugesellschaft mbH, Erste Wohnungsgenossenschaft Pankow eG, Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin, Magda GmbH, inter 3 GmbH Institute for Resource Management
U-Space Berlin – delivery drones in Berlin for the first time
The U-Space Berlin project aims to test an efficient last-mile logistics solution using drones in the Tempelhof-Schöneberg district. The planned practical demonstrations include the transport of medical materials between a hospital and external facilities and the delivery of goods to a decentralised industrial park. The aim of the real-world laboratory is to develop scalable and data-based business models in urban areas for the integration of drones into logistics and transport concepts.
Project partners: Startup Colors UG/Applied Data Incubator (network coordination), TU Berlin, DiAvEn Labfly UG, marktschwalbe GmbH, Murzilli Consulting / M&K Germany GmbH, Akkon Hochschule Johanniter University of Applied Sciences
