The timber elements of the structure make use of local wood sources. The main columns of the glass envelope structure consist of the trunks of 130 year old pine trees which were felled more than one year ahead of construction from a firest less than 100km from the site.
The photovoltaic panels were also manufactured locally at Germany's largest photovoltaic assembly plant 15 km from Herne.
The conctrete structure of the inner buildings acts as a heat sink balancing out tenperature differences between day and night as well as periods of more extreme temperature differences. the waste factor of material was reduced to a minimum. These measures assure good potential for recycling and ease of maintenance.