The world’s leading trade fair for construction machinery will once again be held at the Messe München centre in Munich from the 7th to the 13th of April 2025. From the digital construction site to alternative drives and tomorrow’s construction methods, the most important topics will be discussed, and innovative solutions will be presented. Inside Sustainability presents the inside scoop on the sustainable construction exhibition of the year.
The bauma event is the world’s most important meeting point for the construction machinery, building material machining and mining machine industry.
The famous exhibition is where key players, innovations, target groups and trends can all meet in one place. As the world’s leading trade fair, bauma reflects the entire industry in all its variety and detail.
This week-long event was last held in 2022, when the 200,000 square metres of hall space at Messe München become the centre of the construction machinery industry. A total of around 3,200 exhibitors from 60 countries and more than 495,000 visitors from over 200 countries came to Munich for the show. International visitors were in attendance from
around the world including the United States, China, Turkey and across Europe.
Alongside the more than 3,000 exhibitors already booked for bauma 2025, there is a supporting programme as diverse as the main event itself. This includes live demonstrations, the bauma FORUM, the innovation hall, the bauma LAB and lots of experience areas.
Every bauma event is centred around five key topics and bauma 2025 looks set to exceed the standards set by the previous show. The topics for this year are climate neutrality, alternative drive concepts, networked construction, sustainable construction and mining challenges. We looked into what these topics mean, and how they will be explored at bauma.
Climate neutrality
Approaches to achieving climate-neutral construction in the future include greater machine efficiency, more intelligent design of construction processes, optimised machine operations and the use of alternative energy sources.
In December 2019, the EU Commission presented the ambitious goal of making the European Union climate-neutral by 2050. This is particularly relevant for those attending and exhibiting at bauma, as it is estimated that the construction value chain is currently responsible for around 36% of carbon emissions within the EU.
The vast majority of greenhouse gases are emitted during the production of building materials and during decades of operating the completed buildings. Nevertheless, everything must also be done during the construction phase itself to achieve maximum decarbonisation.
Process optimisation in the use of construction machinery promises particularly good results with regard to climate neutrality. At bauma, the emission-related possibilities offered by digitisation and automation will become particularly clear.
These include better scheduling of machines and the resulting avoidance of idle times, machine-to-machine communication for more efficient production chains, early detection of increased energy consumption for technical reasons thanks to machine condition monitoring using smart sensors.
Alternative drive concepts
Another contribution to decarbonising the construction site can come from alternative drive concepts. Construction machinery worldwide emits several hundred million tons of CO2 every year, while more and more countries and municipalities are committing to a carbon-free future. In light of this, the industry is increasingly switching from traditional diesel engines to more environmentally friendly drives.
Electric motors have been a mainstay among alternative drives for construction vehicles and machines for several years now. Whether it was excavators, wheel loaders, rollers, dumpers, or vibratory plates, many manufacturers have already presented new solutions from their ever-growing e-portfolio at previous
And the trend will likely continue in 2025. For example, one leading European OEM announced that from 2040 it will only supply vehicles that are powered entirely without fossil fuels, while the analysis and consulting firm IDTechEx predicts that the global market for electric construction machinery will be worth 105 billion dollars by 2042.
Many companies and research institutes are also focusing on developing and testing hydrogen powered construction machinery. One manufacturer presented prototypes
of two hydrogen combustion engines at bauma 2022 and series production was announced for 2025.
Networked construction
A key element of future-oriented construction is that the machinery used is becoming increasingly digitised. As a result, users gain a growing amount of data, which not only shows them the condition of the machines, but also provides valuable information on their performance and work quality.
Attachments are also playing an increasingly important role on construction sites. They are becoming smarter, providing more and more digital process data, and communicating with the respective carrier devices. The MiC 4.0
BUS protocol, which was awarded the innovation prize in the field of digitalisation at the last bauma in 2022, laid the foundation for a uniform digital language required for this. Version 1.0 of this protocol is now freely usable with full-functional security.
Sustainable construction
Construction consumes significant amounts of resources and is one of the largest producers of greenhouse gases. For these reasons alone, social development aimed at sustainability is inconceivable without the essential contributions of the construction industry. bauma will present the diverse approaches in the construction machinery world for sustainable construction.
Every bauma also presents new ideas from the construction machinery industry to further improve safety on the construction site and the working conditions for employees. These also include ergonomic and intuitive controls, vibration-damping technologies, as well as driver assistance, telematics and overload indicator systems.
Mining challenges
The global mining industry faces the challenge of securing the economic supply of raw materials while minimising negative impacts on the environment, climate and people. At bauma, exhibitors will showcase the latest technology solutions to overcome the challenges mining faces.
On the one hand, developments such as urbanisation and industrialisation, as well as the energy transition, create a huge international hunger for raw materials. On the other hand, investors and regulatory authorities increasingly demand that mining companies comply with ESG criteria. In order to make supplying raw materials even more efficient, secure and sustainable in the future, the industry is pursuing various innovative
approaches that will be presented in detail in the Mining sector area at bauma.
In the interest of climate protection, but also to reduce exhaust emissions underground, thus benefiting operations, switching to alternative drives has long been one of the measures for environmentally friendly raw material extraction. Every three years, bauma provides a complete overview of the use of and new developments in battery and wired electric vehicles, diesel-electric hybrids, and hydrogen drives.
A comparatively new, smart solution for generating energy for excavators, screening machines and conveyor belts at gravel pits, with no emissions and right at the extraction site, are photovoltaic power plants that float on the quarry ponds. Germany is regarded as one of the international pioneers in implementing these floating solar systems.
In conclusion, as bauma 2025 approaches, the global stage is set for transformative discussions and groundbreaking innovations that will define the future of construction and mining. With a spotlight on climate neutrality, alternative drive concepts, networked construction, sustainable building practices and solutions to evolving mining challenges, the event promises to inspire a new era of resilience and sustainability in the construction industry.
bauma 2025 is not just a trade show; it is a catalyst for change, uniting thought leaders and innovators to pave the way for a smarter, greener, and more connected future. n
