Source | AZL Aachen GmbH

The global buildings and infrastructure (B&I) market for composite materials has accelerated toward a projected value of more than $21 billion in 2025. To identify further business potentials for the composite industry, AZL Aachen GmbH (Germany) has announced a new international Joint Market and Technology study: “Next Generation Composites in Buildings & Infrastructure – A 2026 Global Outlook on Growth, Sustainability and Digitalization.”

Building on the success of AZL’s landmark Buildings & Infrastructure (B&I) study — conducted in 2017 with 32 global companies — this initiative will reassess established applications and quantify emerging opportunities across markets, materials and manufacturing technologies. The addressed market segments comprise the following, among others:

• Residential/nonresidential buildings and city furniture
• Infrastructure for energy supply/water supply/electricity and heat supply and storage
• Special constructions like airports, ports or train stations.

based on preliminary work in which 438 attractive products/applications/ technologies have been identified and analyzed, this new study will reevaluate 25 previously identified core applications using fresh 2025 market data, updated growth forecasts and competitive benchmarking. Furthermore, AZL will identify and quantify new growth potentials driven by sustainability (circular economy, LCA-driven material choice, biocomposites), by digitalization (such as integration with BIM, sensor-equipped “smart” components) and by new applications (such as hydrogen infrastructure, modular data centers, etc.).

The 9-month project will deliver a structured market segmentation, technology and value chain mapping, application screenings, technology trees, fact sheets, comparative KPI matrices and expert workshops — providing participants with a practical foundation for business development, investment strategy and innovation planning.

Results will be delivered in a comprehensive final report and presentation package. Additionally, the results from the former 2017 B&I study will also be made available in the new study together with the final report and will be used as a basis for discussion and reflection on the results in the course of the new market and technology study.