The IWU - About us
Main entrance Rheinstraße© IWU
The Institute for Housing and Environment – Institut Wohnen und Umwelt GmbH (IWU) – is a publicly-supported, non-profit research institute owned by the State of Hessen and City of Darmstadt in central Germany. It conducts cutting-edge basic and applied interdisciplinary research, focusing on housing markets and policy as well as on energy efficiency and climate action in the building sector, spanning neighborhoods, towns and cities. Through its science, the IWU aims to actively contribute to the solution of pressing societal challenges, including climate change and the creation and maintenance of fair societies.
Established in 1971, the IWU ranks among the leading research institutions in Germany. The institute is currently home of about 25 scientists from multiple disciplines, starting from engineering, economics and physics through to social sciences, including sociology and political science. Ten additional staff work in administration and research support.
The scientific work is structured in four research fields, which include:
- housing markets and housing policy,
- assessment and optimisation of the energy performance of buildings,
- strategic monitoring of building stocks as well as
- logics of action of actors in the building sector
Read more about the different ➨ research fields.