22.46 million euros for GreenFactory
The GreenFactory is coming! As part of the Impulsforum at the Buschhütten Campus, Viktor Haase, State Secretary of the Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Transportation of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, presented the grant award notification for 22.46 million euros for the REGIONALE 2025 project GreenFactory. The funding will run for three years starting July 1, 2026. With the GreenFactory, the Buschhütten Campus will be expanded through the retrofitting of another former production hall. A research and transfer center for circular production, sustainable building use, and industrial resource efficiency will be established there. The project sponsor is SDFS Smarte Demonstrationsfabrik Siegen GmbH. Project partners include six departments at the University of Siegen as well as the start-up Smart Plastify, based on the Buschhütten Campus. This will create a flagship project for the circular economy in South Westphalia under the umbrella of the Buschhütten Campus, as well as another hub for the production of the future.
“The Green Factory is a true flagship project for the circular economy in South Westphalia,” says Environment Minister Oliver Krischer, praising the project. “The combination of industrial expertise, research, and technology transfer has great potential to extend the impact of the Buschhütten Campus throughout the entire region. Integrating the circular economy into industrial production not only protects the environment and conserves resources, but also saves companies money and energy while opening up new circular business models for them. The Green Factory thus creates new prospects for the future, particularly for small and medium-sized industrial companies.”
The Rector of the University of Siegen, Prof. Dr. Stefanie Reese, outlines the added value for the University of Siegen: “Sustainability, digitalization, and artificial intelligence are among the major issues shaping the future of our time. Our goal is to make these topics even more prominent in research and teaching at the University of Siegen. The Buschhütten campus offers us excellent opportunities to do so as a real-world laboratory: It uniquely combines science and industrial practice and embodies close collaboration between the university and industry. Our students and staff benefit from this through attractive learning, teaching, and working environments. At the same time, we are strengthening the technical sciences and engineering—at the University of Siegen and far beyond the region.”
The GreenFactory brings together two key areas of development: In the field of green manufacturing, solutions are being developed for circular metal and plastic processing as well as for the use of renewable raw materials. This involves, for example, using materials more effectively within production processes and reusing them for other purposes. Wood is to be used in mechanical engineering, and waste is to be minimized. To this end, new machines and equipment are being procured.
The Green Building division focuses on the sustainable management of existing industrial buildings, with the goal of creating guidelines for the resource-efficient retrofitting of industrial buildings. The GreenFactory is thus intended to serve as a model for other sites where old production halls will be repurposed in the future through “green building.” For this reason, the six departments at the University of Siegen—including civil engineering and architecture—are also involved in the project. The old production hall is undergoing extensive renovation. Underfloor heating, a heat pump, and a solar system are being installed, while the half-timbered structure preserves the hall’s historical character.
“In this context,” adds Dr. Stefanie Arens, Director of REGIONALE 2025 at the South Westphalia Agency, “the GreenFactory serves as a prime example of the development of numerous innovative and practical projects within REGIONALE 2025. In many places, companies and universities are collaborating. They are developing and testing scalable solutions for digital and sustainable transformation in the South Westphalia economic region. This demonstrates that, as a region, we have the capability to position ourselves for the future when we join forces. The GreenFactory is creating a space that makes this tangible and visible to everyone.”
Background: The Buschhütten Campus
The Buschhütten Campus sees itself as an innovation hub for sustainable production technology and as a modern platform for the transfer of knowledge and technology: Under the roof of a former production hall that is over 120 years old, the university and companies from industry and the IT sector work together here. Theoretical research knowledge from currently six university chairs engages in dialogue with the practical technological and market expertise of 98 partner companies: Research is conducted as part of funded projects, demonstrated in microfactories, and—through consulting—even put into production, including prototype manufacturing. Innovative findings are always put into practice. The companies—primarily local ones—receive innovative technological impetus in the pre-competitive arena, from which they can generate competitive advantages for their businesses. The guiding principle that underpins all thinking and action at the Buschhütten Campus is: WE PRODUCE. THE FUTURE.
Background: The SDFS Smart Demonstration Factory Siegen
At the heart of the Buschhütten Campus is SDFS Smart Demonstration Factory Siegen GmbH, which organizes and orchestrates the technology transfer. Prof. Peter Burggräf developed the vision to expand the Buschhütten Campus to include a GreenFactory. This idea very quickly gained the enthusiasm of the Südwestfalenagentur, which incorporated the GreenFactory project into its REGIONALE 2025 program and provided facilitative support. The project was then planned in detail by SDFS, and funding was applied for through ERDF resources with co-financing from the Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Transportation of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. At the same time, Achenbach Buschhütten Holding GmbH once again committed to making another old production hall from the 1860s available and to retrofitting it at its own expense while preserving the building’s cultural heritage. Furthermore, the University of Siegen expanded its long-term collaboration with the Buschhütten Campus as a real-world laboratory for its engineering sciences.
The GreenFactory Project Partners
- Chair of Metal Forming Technology (UTS): Prof. Dr. Bernd Engel, University of Siegen
- Chair of Materials Systems for Lightweight Vehicle Construction: Prof. Dr. Robert Brandt, University of Siegen
- Chair of Manufacturing Automation and Assembly (FAMS): Prof. Dr. Martin Manns, University of Siegen
- Chair of Steel Structures and Composite Steel Structures, Construction Operations Research Group: Prof. Dr. Daniel Pak, University of Siegen
- Chair of Materials Science and Materials Testing (LMW): Prof. Dr. Axel von Hehl, University of Siegen
- Chair of International Production Engineering and Management (IPEM): Prof. Dr. Peter Burggräf, University of Siegen
- SDFS Smart Demonstration Factory Siegen GmbH (SDFS): Alexander Becher and Dr. Carl René Sauer
- Smart Plastify: Sebastian Pütter
