The KIT IBPT as the nucleus of the ATP has sustainability in focus since its foundation in 2016. Frontier research and development can be sustainable by using resources and energy responsibly. This also includes the reduction of energy and electricity usage for the reduction of the CO₂-footprint of research facilites and of gases and materials employed in components.

The research building 348 at KIT hosts the accelerators (KARA), several beamlines using X-ray synchrotron radiation, several specialized laboratories surrounding the accelerators, and operates the building's air conditioning and temperature-control system.

Within projects hosted by the test field KITTEN the infrastructure's energy consumption base footprint could be reduced by 30 % from 2022 to 2023.

For comparison: a single-person household in Germany (1-Personen-Haushalt) uses per year 2.1 MWh for electricity and 8.7 MWh for heating, a total of 10.8 MWh (source: Statistisches Bundesamt, destatis.de, newest data from 2021, status September 2023). The 4.4 GWh base consumption of the research building thus corresponds to 407 persons at home. The research building hosts more than 400 guest scientists (per year and on average) plus KIT personell working on frontier R&D to serve society and provide solutions to the central questions of our time.