With Caroline Palfy, Handler Bau has recruited a pioneer of sustainability into the executive level. Her entry into the management alongside Martin Pertl and Michael Schranz is an indication of the way forward in many respects. The engineer and head builder by trade stands for sustainable construction with female competence in project development and sole contracting.
“A woman in construction may have a different approach in some ways,” Caroline Palfy says, and she can put these to perfect use in both of her new areas of responsibility. Above all, she will focus more on the positioning of timber construction on the market, and apply her planning capabilities to help expand Handler Bau’s sole contracting activities.
Caroline Palfy’s different approaches are faliliar at Handler Bau. For some time now, the company has worked together with her successfully, especially on the timber high-rise Hoho, Palfy’s showcase project, which she was actively involved with from the concept to the realisation.
The 42 year-old Caroline Palfy, who calls Rust in Burgenland her home with her twin daughters, spent years in the Kerbler Group and worked as the Managing Director of cetus Baudevelopment GmbH until the end of 2020. Now was the time for a new direction.
“In the real estate sector, I can only realise my own projects,” Palfy says, “whereas in construction, I can realise numerous sustainable projects for various clients and do more to put resource-conserving construction into widespread practice.”
Her favourite topics – resource-conserving, regional construction, energy efficiency and innovation – will remain a focus for her in her new position. She is committed to showing all that is possible with timber. Construction is her passion. Her motto: “I want to get things moving.”
“The social paradigm shift under the motto, “There is no planet B” must also be carried out and supported by the real estate and construction sectors,” Caroline Palfy states, and aligns herself perfectly with Handler Bau, where her key concepts of recyclable materials and hybrid construction have long been part of our practice and mindset.
Although it should not actually require a special mention in the times of neo-feminism, a woman stepping into a leading role in the rather male-dominated construction industry is still remarkable. At Handler, female leaders are no novelty, but Caroline Palfy’s ascent to the upper management is still not an everyday occurrence.
CEO Markus Handler on his new Managing Director: “With her competence and expertise, she will be an asset to our team. I know that Caroline Palfy is someone who thinks through each step carefully, clearly and decisively, and is more than capable to lead in these challenging and exciting times.”