Pathways to sustainable construction. Experiences and prospective European research strategies

Status

finished

Summary

So far the programme "Building of Tomorrow" succeeded in contributing to the development of sustainable buildings in several innovative aspects. Among these were extensive sociological and psychological surveys and qualitative investigations of user behaviour and acceptance, dissemination barriers or the integration and adaptation of the passive house standard to various other contexts and requirements, such as urban development, prefabrication of components, or the use of ecological building materials. International response to these findings gives evidence that research and demonstration projects within the programme meet the interest of a range of international communities in research, administration and construction practice. Due to the close involvement of the programme management of "Building of Tomorrow" in activities at European level, especially the ERA-NET project ERABUILD, there is mounting interest in better integrating the experiences and innovative results of "Building of Tomorrow" into joint international research strategies and programmes.

It is thus the aim of this short study to identify innovative research programmes on sustainable buildings (and possibly research areas not organised in programmes) in central, eastern and southern European countries and thereby to create an information basis for a closer international cooperation of "Building of Tomorrow" with these countries. However, the task is not to create a comprehensive inventory of such research activities, but to point to selected programmes, prospective funding interests and innovative research fields which may be of interest from the perspective of "Building of Tomorrow".

Project steps

• Systematic investigation on central, eastern and southern European research programmes and innovative fields of research with respect to sustainable buildings;
• establishing contacts with relevant institutions (esp. government departments; public or semi-public agencies and funding bodies); telephone interviews on specific programmes and funding interests;
• selection of 3-5 countries; in-depth interviews with relevant actors and review of innovative programmes and funding strategies;
• report on innovative research and funding activities in selected central, eastern and southern European countries and upcoming research questions.

The results of the investigations should constitute a basis for establishing international cooperation of "Building of Tomorrow" with other programmes on sustainable buildings - especially in the context of the existing ERA-NET activities - and could provide ideas for the further development of the "Building of Tomorrow" programme.

Contact

Dipl.-Ing. Mag. Dr. Harald Rohracher
Interuniversitäres Forschungszentrum für Technik, Arbeit und Kultur (IFZ)
Schlögelgasse 2, A-8010 Graz
Tel.: +43 (316) 813909-24
Fax: +43 (316) 810274
E-Mail: rohracher@ifz.tugraz.at