Institut Bauen und Umwelt has thoroughly revised its website, just in time for this year’s AGM on 7 June 2016 in Berlin. The new look also includes several technical innovations and the new IBU website will be presented and activated under www.ibu-epd.com at the AGM for the first time.
The new IBU website is clearly structured, modern, reduced in volume – complying with the corporate design of IBU. Important information can easily be accessed owing to the newly streamlined navigation; clearly structured pages allow an excellent overview. “Not only did we restructure our website visually, but also the content“, explains Anita Kietzmann, consultant at IBU and responsible for co-ordinating Public Relations. “There will be greater provision of information and at the same time we kept our core features like our EPD overview or our access to the EPD Online Tool.” When redesigning the website, the main task had been to explain and outline complex and comprehensive subjects, such as sustainability and Environmental Product Declarations, as well as the work of IBU. In order to reach the different target groups, the explanations had to be clear and easy-to-understand and furthermore, the content had to be reduced to the essential.
“The new section FAQ, systematically organized by topic, provides quick answers to the most important questions. How does an EPD work, how is the IBU EPD Programme structured or how to become a member of our association – these are some of the topics that are explained without the user having to tediously look for them“, says Kietzmann. One main reason for the relaunch was suppling up-to-date information: press releases, Twitter messages and forthcoming event details can now be found on the homepage; additionally, the IBU newsletter regularly provides everyone interested with the latest news on IBU, sustainability and EPDs.
The website was last redesigned when IBU moved from Königswinter, near Bonn, to Berlin in 2013. “Since then a lot has changed“, explains IBU Managing Director Dr Burkhart Lehmann. “Our association has got more than 180 members by now, and far more than 1,000 EPDs for different construction products and components have been verified and issued at IBU. With a rising trend. The newly created Member Area is therefore the heart of our IBU website.“ IBU members can register for this area and will be given authorization by the IBU office. This grants them access to exclusive information, files and materials for their company communication, order forms for service packages and current IBU offers. The section IBU Media Monitoring documents all reports and clippings about the association and its members in the print and online media. Furthermore, it provides information for IBU member companies and associations on innovations in the construction industry, important information on sustainability and relevant political decisions. In January the Communication Manual was published and it can also be accessed in the Member Area.
Lehmann points out: “We provide this service especially for our members and it has been an important concern of ours, because it is quite a challenge to clearly communicate topics like sustainability in construction and its impact on natural resource use, and explaining those concepts to the main public. With our website we would like to support our members, because only together we can achieve something.“ Due to the Responsive Designs this information is also easily accessible on smartphones and tablets.
An additional, important innovation: Relaunching the website is combined with changing the domain. Our web address used to be www.bau-umwelt.com and will now be www.ibu-epd.com. “In the centre of our new domain you can find the very core of our work: the EPD and its contribution towards sustainability in the construction industry. Even beyond the German language“, Anita Kietzmann emphasizes. Since there are member companies from 18 different countries, which are publishing their EPDs through the IBU Programme, it has become more and more important for IBU to facilitate international understanding.
Institut Bauen und Umwelt and its members are all committed to sustainability in the construction industry. Construction product manufacturers have joined forces in order to supply factual and transparent information on construction products throughout their complete life cycle – from resource use and production to their use-phase and landfilling or recycling. The communication tool to convey this information are Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), verified by independent third parties and issued by IBU. EPDs are based on life cycle assessments as well as on the European standard DIN EN 15804, applying to all kinds of construction services and products Europe wide. In Germany, IBU is the only organization to operate an EPD Programme for construction products across different sectors according to ISO and CEN standards, and is also known throughout Europe.
The new IBU website is clearly structured, modern, reduced in volume – complying with the corporate design of IBU. Important information can easily be accessed owing to the newly streamlined navigation; clearly structured pages allow an excellent overview. “Not only did we restructure our website visually, but also the content“, explains Anita Kietzmann, consultant at IBU and responsible for co-ordinating Public Relations. “There will be greater provision of information and at the same time we kept our core features like our EPD overview or our access to the EPD Online Tool.” When redesigning the website, the main task had been to explain and outline complex and comprehensive subjects, such as sustainability and Environmental Product Declarations, as well as the work of IBU. In order to reach the different target groups, the explanations had to be clear and easy-to-understand and furthermore, the content had to be reduced to the essential.
“The new section FAQ, systematically organized by topic, provides quick answers to the most important questions. How does an EPD work, how is the IBU EPD Programme structured or how to become a member of our association – these are some of the topics that are explained without the user having to tediously look for them“, says Kietzmann. One main reason for the relaunch was suppling up-to-date information: press releases, Twitter messages and forthcoming event details can now be found on the homepage; additionally, the IBU newsletter regularly provides everyone interested with the latest news on IBU, sustainability and EPDs.
The website was last redesigned when IBU moved from Königswinter, near Bonn, to Berlin in 2013. “Since then a lot has changed“, explains IBU Managing Director Dr Burkhart Lehmann. “Our association has got more than 180 members by now, and far more than 1,000 EPDs for different construction products and components have been verified and issued at IBU. With a rising trend. The newly created Member Area is therefore the heart of our IBU website.“ IBU members can register for this area and will be given authorization by the IBU office. This grants them access to exclusive information, files and materials for their company communication, order forms for service packages and current IBU offers. The section IBU Media Monitoring documents all reports and clippings about the association and its members in the print and online media. Furthermore, it provides information for IBU member companies and associations on innovations in the construction industry, important information on sustainability and relevant political decisions. In January the Communication Manual was published and it can also be accessed in the Member Area.
Lehmann points out: “We provide this service especially for our members and it has been an important concern of ours, because it is quite a challenge to clearly communicate topics like sustainability in construction and its impact on natural resource use, and explaining those concepts to the main public. With our website we would like to support our members, because only together we can achieve something.“ Due to the Responsive Designs this information is also easily accessible on smartphones and tablets.
An additional, important innovation: Relaunching the website is combined with changing the domain. Our web address used to be www.bau-umwelt.com and will now be www.ibu-epd.com. “In the centre of our new domain you can find the very core of our work: the EPD and its contribution towards sustainability in the construction industry. Even beyond the German language“, Anita Kietzmann emphasizes. Since there are member companies from 18 different countries, which are publishing their EPDs through the IBU Programme, it has become more and more important for IBU to facilitate international understanding.
Institut Bauen und Umwelt and its members are all committed to sustainability in the construction industry. Construction product manufacturers have joined forces in order to supply factual and transparent information on construction products throughout their complete life cycle – from resource use and production to their use-phase and landfilling or recycling. The communication tool to convey this information are Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), verified by independent third parties and issued by IBU. EPDs are based on life cycle assessments as well as on the European standard DIN EN 15804, applying to all kinds of construction services and products Europe wide. In Germany, IBU is the only organization to operate an EPD Programme for construction products across different sectors according to ISO and CEN standards, and is also known throughout Europe.
