GRUNSTATTGRAU FORSCHUNGS- UND INNOVATIONS-GMBH

Their core work

GrünstattGrau ("Green instead of Grey") is a Vienna-based research SME specializing in green infrastructure for buildings and cities — green roofs, green facades, and nature-based solutions for urban environments. They bridge the gap between construction industry innovation and urban greening, contributing expertise in how vegetation systems integrate into building envelopes and renovation strategies. Their work spans from knowledge platforms for nature-based urban solutions to industrialized deep renovation of buildings with a life-cycle perspective.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

GrünstattGrau entered H2020 in 2016 with a focus on nature-based solutions and urban greening through the Nature4Cities project — a knowledge and decision-support platform. By 2020, their focus expanded significantly into construction industry innovation (METABUILDING) and industrialized building renovation (INFINITE), adding keywords like additive manufacturing, digital platforms, cascade funding, and whole value-chain optimization. The evolution shows a clear shift from pure green urbanism research toward practical, industry-connected building innovation with a sustainability angle.

Moving from research-oriented nature-based solutions toward industrialized, digitally-enabled green building renovation — positioning themselves at the intersection of sustainability and construction technology.

How they like to work

GrünstattGrau operates exclusively as a consortium participant, never leading projects, which is typical for a specialized SME contributing domain expertise to larger initiatives. With 74 unique partners across just 3 projects, they participate in large consortia (averaging ~25 partners per project), suggesting they are comfortable in complex, multi-actor research environments. Their broad partner base indicates they are a connector rather than a repeat-partner loyalist — valuable for consortium builders looking to bridge green infrastructure with construction innovation.

Despite only three projects, GrünstattGrau has built a remarkably wide network of 74 unique partners across 14 countries, reflecting participation in large European consortia spanning the construction, energy, and urban innovation sectors.

What sets them apart

GrünstattGrau occupies a rare niche: they are a research SME that connects green infrastructure expertise (green roofs, facades, nature-based solutions) with construction industry digitalization and renovation. Most green infrastructure organizations stay within environmental research, while most construction innovators ignore the greening dimension — GrünstattGrau bridges both. For consortium builders, they offer a credible Austrian SME voice that can translate between urban ecology goals and practical building industry constraints.

Highlights from their portfolio

• INFINITE
  Largest funding share (EUR 224,500) and longest-running project (2020-2026), focused on industrialized building envelope retrofitting — their most substantial commitment.
• METABUILDING
  Highest single-project funding (EUR 371,970 total) with a cross-sectoral metaclustering approach connecting construction, additive manufacturing, and nature-based solutions through cascade funding.
• Nature4Cities
  Their earliest H2020 project and foundation — a knowledge diffusion and decision-support platform for nature-based solutions in cities, establishing their green urbanism credentials.