BLDATA
We forecast demand for building products worldwide. Since 1997.
Working with global industry leaders
For over 25 years, B+L has partnered with the world's leading building materials corporations on strategic projects across all continents. Our team combines deep industry expertise with rigorous data science to deliver actionable market intelligence.
Market entry analyses, demand forecasts, competitive assessments, and due diligence projects for M&A transactions.
From global leaders like Knauf, Saint-Gobain, and Rockwool to mid-sized specialists and private equity firms.
Project experience spanning Europe, Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Middle East & Africa — from mature to emerging markets.
- ●Market sizing & demand forecasting
- ●Competitive landscape analysis
- ●Market entry & expansion strategies
- ●Product portfolio optimization
- ●M&A target screening & due diligence
- ●Price benchmarking across markets
- ●Insulation (thermal & acoustic)
- ●Roofing & waterproofing
- ●Windows, doors & facades
- ●Heating, ventilation & air conditioning
- ●Flooring & wall coverings
- ●Cement, concrete & aggregates
- ●Bricks, tiles & ceramics
- ●Prefabricated & modular construction
Industry experts with global reach
The B+L team combines decades of experience in construction economics, market research, and data analytics. Every team member brings extensive international project experience working directly with leading building materials corporations — from strategic market studies to M&A due diligence across 75+ countries.
Martin Langen
Co-founder and Managing Director of B+L Marktdaten. Leading economist with 25+ years of experience in construction market research and forecasting. Trusted advisor to CEOs and boards of major building materials corporations worldwide.
Robin Huth
Leads MarketLens custom studies and product-level demand forecasting. Extensive international project experience with leading building materials corporations across Europe and global markets.
André Mazloum
Senior analyst with deep expertise in international building materials markets. Conducts cross-border market studies and competitive analysis for global corporations expanding into new territories.
Marcel Dresse
Heads B+L’s primary research division including surveys, panels, and field studies. Designs and executes large-scale industry surveys that form the empirical backbone of our forecasting models.
Jens Wehenkel
Leads the GBM (Global Building Monitor) database — the world’s most comprehensive construction permit and volume dataset. Expert in econometric modeling across 75+ countries.
Silvia Hille
Manages B+L’s industry events, conferences, and stakeholder engagement. Coordinates the annual B+L construction forecast conference and client workshops across Europe.
Patrick Nonnen
Leads the software and IT division including the MILAN data platform, API infrastructure, and Power BI integrations. Responsible for all digital products and data delivery systems.
Fabian Weiß
Develops and maintains B+L’s data infrastructure, web applications, and client-facing tools. Specializes in modern web technologies and data pipeline engineering.
We are supported by
Our team of 15 professional interviewers has been conducting high-level expert interviews for over 5 years — across industries, countries, and C-suite stakeholders. They specialize in structured interviews with senior executives, product managers, and technical directors at leading building materials corporations. Their expertise spans market entry assessments, competitive intelligence gathering, and deep-dive product category analysis across European and global markets. Each interviewer is trained in our proprietary methodology and maintains long-standing relationships with key industry contacts.
A dedicated team of students from RWTH Aachen, Universität Bonn, and Universität Köln supports our IT and research divisions. Particularly in software development and data engineering, our student team brings cutting-edge technical skills in Python, data science, and modern web technologies. In the research division, they contribute to data collection, statistical analysis, and the maintenance of our comprehensive construction databases. Beyond IT and research, our students play a key role in AI projects for internal process optimization, AI-driven data analysis, and the development of advanced forecasting methods. These initiatives deliver measurable improvements on a weekly basis and pull the entire team forward.
Since the founding of B+L, Karsten Harbott and his Digishop team have been our trusted technology partner for IT infrastructure and software development. B+L and Digishop share a common origin — both companies were co-founded by Karl Becker, creating a deep partnership built on shared values and mutual understanding. The Digishop team brings decades of experience in enterprise software architecture, database design, and system integration. Together, we have built and maintained the core data platforms that power our forecasting models and client-facing applications.
And then there are the new colleagues who support us across all areas of our work. MAX deserves special mention — he is a Mac Studio Ultra running our internal large language models and powering our in-house data analysis pipelines. MAX processes thousands of data points daily, assists with report generation, automates repetitive research tasks, and helps our analysts identify patterns in complex construction market datasets.
...and many more leading manufacturers, consulting firms, and private equity investors worldwide.