Koch-Ørvad, N and Thuesen, C (2016) Sustainable building in scandinavia: Directions of innovations for supporting the transition. In: Chan, P W and Neilson, C J (eds.) Proceedings of 32nd Annual ARCOM Conference, 5-7 September 2016, Manchester, UK.
Abstract
This paper presents an overview of the current situation of sustainable building in Scandinavia and draws a picture of the 'the missing links' in the sustainable transition of the building sector, i.e. the actions, products, processes, technologies etc. needed in order to move the building sector radically in the direction desired and needed in terms of sustainability. The results of the paper is based on a series of interviews of key persons from the Danish, Norwegian and Swedish building sector, who all together contribute to outline the current situation of sustainable building. The overall focus in sustainable building in Scandinavia has for long been on reduction of energy use. This is reflected in the regulations where the building codes continually have increased the energy demands for products, components and performance of the buildings, inducing more energy efficient products to the market. There is a tendency now that the focus of the building sector is shifting towards emissions of greenhouse gasses and utilization of resources, including a significant focus on waste, recycling and upcycling of materials and components. Concepts such as Circular Economy, tools such as LCA and LCC, and certification systems like BREEAM, LEED and DGNB are all becoming much applied, and can be seen as different approaches on how to comprehend and operationalize sustainable building. There is an overall need of concepts for innovative collaborations – both within the teams of specific building projects, between companies and knowledge fields, and between the different sectors; building, energy, transport etc. New tools are also requested to bring the existing building stock, especially housing, onto the sustainability agenda, including new economical incitement structures. The paper presents several research agendas that should be approached in order to support radical innovation activities that will contribute to more sustainable building and thus a more sustainable society.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | sustainability; innovation; transition management; scandinavia |
| Index terms: | interview, BREEAM accreditation, housing, research agenda, sustainable building, certification, building stock, collaboration, building code, becoming, energy demand, society, circular economy, recycling, regulation, energy use |
| Subjects: | energy systems, construction type, data collection methods, waste management, administrative processes, asset management, sustainable design, political science, regulatory law, sustainable construction, communities and social development, philosophical process, environmental policy, management, research management |
| Topics: | Legal Issues, Organizational Design, Stakeholder Management, Sustainability, Research Practice, Contract Administration, Construction Technology, Business Strategy, Governance |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here