Life-cycle thinking in educational construction: Dr. Jörg Christen on PPP models as an opportunity for municipalities

How can school construction projects be operated economically, with high quality and in the long term? This question is central to many municipalities that are under pressure to invest – and yet there is often a lack of concrete solutions. At the SCHULBAU Salon & Messe in Essen 2025, Dr. Jörg Christen will bring well-founded data, precise analyses and an approach that is still unfamiliar to many: Public Private Partnership (PPP) as a structured lifecycle approach in educational construction.

Think economically, build smartly: Focus on PPP models

Dr. Jörg Christen, former head of the PPP Task Force of the federal government and now a lecturer at the Mainz University of Applied Sciences in the Department of Technology, has been involved in public-private partnerships for over 30 years. His expertise is well-founded, his argumentation data-based: In a recent European comparative study from 2024, 18 PPP school projects in Germany were compared with over 1,000 conventional buildings – with clear results. The lifecycle costs of public-private partnership projects were between 17% and 35% lower than those of traditionally implemented construction projects. Municipal clients rate the services with an average school grade of 1.7.

The concept: From the very beginning, construction, operation, maintenance and energy management are planned in an integrated manner and thought through over the entire term of the contract.

School construction as a strategic overall package

For many cities and municipalities, public-private partnerships do not offer short-term relief, but a structural option: school construction is understood here less as an individual measure and more as a strategic overall package. Dr. Jörg Christen pleads for a sober look at economic efficiency – and at the same time asks the question of which models can be sustainable in the future to overcome the municipal investment backlog.

At SCHULBAU Essen 2025, he will discuss his findings with participants from municipalities, architecture, planning and administration. His lecture offers insight into reliable study results and at the same time into new ways of thinking for a future of educational construction that goes beyond short-term budgets.

📍 SCHULBAU Salon & Messe Essen 2025
📅 24–25 September 2025
📌 Messe Essen Foyer East
🎤 Lecture by Dr. Jörg Christen:
“PPP Life Cycle Approach – Efficiency Potential for Schools”
🕓 To the program: CLICK!