Environmental aspects of lightweight construction in mobility and manufacturing

In automotive, mechanical, medical and plant engineering, and the construction industry, lightweight construction is considered one of the most important future technologies, providing good market opportunities for small and medium-sized companies. Due to the increasing relevance of energy and resource efficiency, not only technical and economic, but also environmental aspects have to be considered when assessing lightweight construction. Only with the consideration of environmental and economic aspects modern technologies can succeed in different fields of application and gain societies acceptance. In the study commissioned by the e-mobil BW GmbH in Germany, the topic of sustainability in lightweight construction is analyzed on basis of environment and health (Rommel et al. 2012). This article gives an overview on the most important findings and results of this study with special focus on the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of lightweight construction considering the light weight materials steel, high performance steel, aluminum and carbon fiber composites.