Dieter Schäfer, Chairman of the Advisory Board of BAU, Deutsche Steinzeug: “The atmosphere at BAU was extremely promising and it impressively confirmed the positive early indicators of an upturn in the building industry. Right across the building trades, the mood was optimistic, among exhibitors and visitors alike. We were also highly satisfied with the quantity and quality of the contacts. We didn’t just advise visitors but also concluded sales, or advance sales. Many of our guests from architecture, the building materials trade and the building trades expressed the same opinion, namely that they were glad they had come because otherwise they would really have missed something. And we are happy to add our voice to theirs.”

Dr Jörg Vogelsang, BASF: “We were very well positioned at BAU, with our focus theme of energy efficiency in R&M and new builds. There was great interest in the insulation materials of BASF and in innovative developments in energy management. Our presentation appealed very much to the important group of architects, planners and decision-makers in the building industry.”

Thomas Kaczmarek, BetonMarketing Deutschland: “A super fair. Energy themes and rationalisation systems with concrete, our house projects with Schöner Wohnen and in particular light-permeable concrete (Luccon) were the main focuses of attention. Following our many talks with visitors, it is even clearer that the positive trend in the building sector in 2006 will be continuing for concrete also in the current year. The fair managed to exceed even our highest expectations. At BAU 2009 we want to further expand our presentation platform and integrate more solution concepts into our stand.”

Carsten Körnig, Bundesverband Solarwirtschaft: “Lots of exhibitors at BAU presented mature and innovative solutions for the use of solar energy, for saving energy and reducing CO2 emissions. The solar sector presented itself as a reliable partner of the building industry. The strong interest among visitors, the trade public and the media confirmed the exhibitor concept for solar horizons. Seldom has the vision of houses supplied entirely by regenerative fuels been presented in such an immediate way.”

Suzanne Bona, Scotian Homes (Canadian Pavilion): “Our joint stand was well positioned, in order to attract interest from companies from Germany and other EU countries. We made some interesting contacts and presented our products. We are delighted to be at this fair and we will be taking part again next time.”

Torsten Pyzalski, Dorma: “We have been coming to BAU for many years, but there have never been so many international visitors as this time. We talked to people from a wide range of different countries, e.g. eastern Europe, Asia (mainly Japanese and Chinese), from Poland, the Czech Republic and amazingly a large number from the Arabian countries. We were also pleased about the high quality of the visitors, among them many professors and architects. Our goals at BAU were to make customer contacts and to present new products. And we achieved them.”

Michael Wehmeyer, Egger Holzwerkstoffe: “Thanks to our comprehensive product range, our stand attracted many visitors from retail and wholesale, from the building trades, timber construction and architecture, as well as industry. The 50 advisors at our stand were busy all the time. Particular interest was shown in the new collection, ZOOM.”

Peter Maier, Erlus: “We are very happy with how the fair went. We met all our target groups here – retail and wholesale, processors and architects – in their entirety. Our international business has been given a further boost by BAU. BAU itself is becoming more and more international. We noticed in particular an increased number of visitors from EU candidate countries. Overall the positive mood in the sector was reflected at BAU.”

Brigitte Vöster-Alber, GEZE: “BAU 2007 was a success all along the line for GEZE. Our challenge for 2007 will be to maximise the contacts we made with international visitors at the fair, of which there were more this year than in 2005. The enthusiastic reactions of the visitors to our many new products underline the truth of our company motto – Only actions count.”

Christian Jetzt, Glas Trösch Beratungs GmbH: “BAU is something very special for us. We welcomed guests at our stand whom we otherwise never reach – many planners and other top professionals. Architects turned up in number, many with plans in their hands. We also noticed a wider international scope – we had visitors from eastern Europe, Russia, the Middle East and also from England and Ireland. Because of BAU we are expecting an increase in turnover at the start of 2007 of 20% over the same period last year. The forum on “ClimaDesign meets Visions of Glass” proved to be very valuable. It attracts well known professors and experts to the fair, and helps to target new groups of visitors.”

Johannes Reischböck, Graphisoft: “BAU came at just the right moment. Each day, it was relatively calm up until about 9.30, then it was all go until 6 p.m. I am grateful to Messe München for giving a separate platform to IT for building, at which we were able to put on a very professional and strong presentation. We liked the VIP tickets – a very positive gesture. They went down extremely well, and attracted the decision-makers. Seminars and forums are very important for BAU, as it showcases expertise. I would suggest recording the lectures and making them available on the Internet, one after the other. That would be a good way of keeping the momentum going between fairs.”

Ludger Dederich, Holzabsatzfonds: “There is an excellent mood across the entire sector. In recent days we have seen that demand for the building material wood has leaped, above all from planners and architects. Sustainable building and climate-friendly design were the dominant themes at our stand.”

Martin Hörmann, Hörmann: “The positive trend of 2006 was intensified at BAU. We had excellent attendance at our stand. Once again BAU proved to be more than the leading international trade fair for our products. We had significantly more guests from abroad than two years ago, many of them from Asia.”

Manfried Ploke, Interpane: “Overall we are very satisfied. In comparison to 2005 there were noticeably more visitors from abroad at the fair. We talked to people from the new EU member states, from Russia, Lithuania, Sweden and Finland at our stand. Only Messe München succeeds in getting architects to come to the fair. BAU is a contacts forum for us, it´s where we make new contacts. We noticed that the seminars and forums were very popular; the wide-ranging programme with high-ranking speakers was exemplary.”

Alexander Geißels, Isover: “Especially on the third and fourth day, we found it hard to keep up with the number of talks we had at our stand. Great interest was shown in particular in modernisation, that was the main theme at our stand. With the theme of energy-saving we reached all our target groups – building owners, architects and the building materials trade.”

Richard Geiger, Nemetschek: “BAU 2007 exceeded the expectations of Nemetschek. The visitors were very interested in our new software solutions, and there were many targeted questions and significantly more sales than expected. In our view the fair confirms the upwards trend in the sector.”

Albert Schenk, Osma Aufzüge / VDMA Aufzüge und Fahrtreppen: “All the firms represented on our joint stand were highly satisfied. We were surprised by the number of qualified contacts. We hadn´t expected it like this. Architects and planners came along as well as representatives of large building firms, for example, Hochtief and Bilfinger Berger.”

Thomas Lauritzen, Schüco: “The subjects of energy-saving and R&M really hit a nerve with the visitors. Investors, planners, architects, metal processing firms – we reached all the target groups and recorded double-digit growth in visitor numbers. On Friday alone we had sixteen groups of visitors from all over the world at our stand – and all at the same time. The theme of energy is big around the world, whether Europe, China or the US.”

Dr Reinhard Winkelgrund, Stahl-Informations-Zentrum: “We had an excellent flow of visitors to our stand. We were very satisfied. You could feel the positive mood in the sector. We talked to engineers and people from the building trades. The visitors were generally very well informed, real experts, who asked very targeted questions. In our talks we discussed planning and execution issues, with renovations and modernisation work being a central theme. There were noticeably more visitors from eastern Europe.”

Güde Lassen, SunTechnics: “BAU 2007 was extremely successful for SunTechnics. Our stand attracted an above-average number of architects and specialist planners. They came to find out about quality solutions for integrating photovoltaic into buildings. There was a noticeably large number of visitors from abroad, in particular from southern and eastern Europe, but also from Asia and the Middle East. All were interested in our turnkey solar systems, and also in integrated solutions for intelligent heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems in buildings.”

Stephan Stiens, Tarkett: “We had noticeably more contacts than two years ago and are very happy with the quality of the visitors. Among the visitors were architects, wholesalers and building developers and these are precisely the target groups we wanted to reach at BAU. The concentration of floorings in Hall B6 is optimal.”

Roger Görg, Thyssen Krupp: “The atmosphere was tremendous. On Thursday alone we had 300 people at our stand within just two hours. Some of the visitors came along with plans for specific projects, which they then spread out on the table and discussed with our sales people. We even made a few sales on the spot. What we found in our talks with customers is that they are all very confident. You can really notice that a fresh wind is blowing in the building industry. Around 40 percent of our visitors came from abroad. The proportion of visitors from eastern Europe and Asia was higher than that from western Europe.”

Ralf Hoffmann, Vest-Wood Türen: “At BAU 2007 we were struck by the very positive mood among both visitors and exhibitors. With many more contacts, highly successful talks with customers and prospects, plus the professional trade-fair service, BAU in Munich is and remains for us by far the most important trade fair.”

Daniel Schallmo, Wicona: “We are very satisfied with BAU. You can really see that Messe München conducted lots of press conferences around the world in advance of this fair. We had very many international visitors, for example from Russia and China and also many visitors from eastern Europe. That fits in perfectly with our ambitions and expectations. What we also liked is the combination of trade fair with seminars and forums. That´s what our customers are interested in and we notice that it attracts new customers, too, who come along to gather ideas and information at the events. Exhibiting at BAU was very worthwhile for us.”