To allow mechanical engineering and system construction to comply with the principles of the green economy, Fraunhofer IPA is investigating technologies currently in use, evaluating them and linking them to sustainable innovations in the project Ultra-efficient factory in an urban setting in conjunction with Fraunhofer IGB and Fraunhofer IAO . The project, supported by the Ministry of the Environment of Baden-Württemberg, helps companies to organize their value creation processes effectively and efficiently through the optimal use of materials, energy, personnel and capital, and in this way to eliminate as far as possible waste, exhaust air and waste water. The stated aim is to establish ultra-efficient factories which also minimize the negative effects of production through their symbiosis with the urban environment.

On the way to the ultra-efficient factory, there do already exist partial solutions but no integrated perspective. The search is therefore on for a site in Baden-Württemberg to establish an urban, ultra-efficient industrial zone . Communities and businesses interested in the cost-neutral, individual concept have until June 15, 2018 to apply.