Changes to building research funding in Sweden

Changes to the Swedish research landscape since 2001 are described including the re-organization of research councils, research programmes, the management and allocation of public funding research in Sweden, and the effects on built environment research. The reasons for these changes include the desire for increased integration with European Union research programmes, an increasing emphasis on inter- and multidisciplinary research, and the desire for research to contribute to economic well-being. Despite Sweden's high level of government investment in research, shifting priorities and an increasing number of applicants have resulted in reduced allocations for built environment research. This presents the challenging tasks to define and maintain core research capabilities within the built environment sector as well as to ensure adequate industry engagement with both the creation of the research agenda and the use of research outputs.     

Quality and coordination: internationalizing Swedish building research

The structure of Swedish research finance was radically changed in 2001, and the present goals of research policy are that Sweden is to be a leading research nation, where research with a high scientific quality is conducted. However, the process of internationalizing Swedish building research leads to an issue of how international standards for scientific quality are applied and how Swedish researcher participation in industry initiatives and European framework programmes is supported. This issue is discussed against a background of a national system where research funding is indirectly and strongly linked to university teaching, which also means that research institutes are comparatively unimportant. International expansion of large firms in the construction industry has led to an increasing engagement with university research. However, the current process intended to guarantee high scientific quality in projects with national funding is inflexible and not fully compatible with what is required for industry and European research cooperation.     

Dutch performance-based approach to building regulations and public procurement

Along with the publication of the first set of performance-based regulations in 1991, the Netherlands Governmental Building Agency (GBA) introduced innovative performance-based procurement and tendering. A structurally different performance-based regulation document was published in 2001. A continuous research effort paralleled these developments, leading recently to the Policy Document on Building Regulations 2002-06 and the approval of a new national programme called Process and System Innovation in Building (PSIB). Actual and future developments are strongly influenced by the turmoil following the recent disclosure of the wide use of outlawed settlement of calculation cost and project 'rights' by the Dutch contractors. In addition, some blatant cases of fraudulent contract administration were revealed. By the end of 2003, key stakeholders within both the government and industry were in agreement that there was a need for radical change of the economic and social performance of the building and construction sector. The PSIB programme, in combination with a strong deregulation initiative, will be the major driver for the application of the performance approach in the sector.     

Performance-based building regulation: current situation and future needs

Although performance-based building regulations are in use or under development in numerous countries worldwide, there remain significant challenges in adequately identifying and defining performance, in understanding and addressing diverse societal expectations, and in establishing robust performance-based regulatory systems. These challenges become intensified as the building construction market becomes increasingly global, with the resulting expectation that building regulatory instruments remain valid across borders and do not create barriers to trade, while at the same time address local and national needs without compromising local cultural and societal norms. Many of these issues are just now beginning to be explored, and there is significant opportunity and need for future research and development in these areas.     

Simulation and analysis of airborne cross-contamination routes due to the operation of building drainage and vent systems

Recent concerns about the role of the drainage and vent systems installed in high-rise and other buildings in the possible spread of airborne contamination have highlighted the need for simulations capable of predicting system response when subject to multiple and random events. Such simulations would allow designers to predict the possible contamination routes established as a result of failures of the system, e.g. trap seal loss and/or the influence of dried-out traps. In addition, the simulations proposed would provide diagnostic tools in the event of cross-contamination. Mathematical solutions are used to simulate the system unsteady water and entrained airflows, and the application of these simulations to predict likely contamination routes. The AIRNET simulation is employed to represent the unsteady air and water down-flow conditions in the network, the associated propagation of air pressure transients and trap response. The simulation can provide a design and standards development tool as well as a forensic and diagnostic tool for the investigation of suspected cross-contamination. The simulations confirm that cross-contamination routes result from normal operation and random failure conditions, including system surcharge and trap depletion due to, for example, poor maintenance. It suggests that simulation predictions have an important role in ascertaining potential hazards, as well as a forensic role.     

Rethinking urban capacity: identifying and appraising vacant buildings

Policies related to urban development and regeneration have prompted a need for greater levels of information concerning vacant land and property. A need is identified to create efficient use (and reuse) of existing real estate. Drawing on information primarily collected for property taxation, a methodology is presented to create comprehensive data sets relating to vacant non-domestic buildings to help identify the type, size and location of long-term vacant property. The case is made for this methodology to be extended and for improved access to comprehensive data to enable scarce real estate resources to be used in a more sustainable manner.     

Evolution of energy policy in the Netherlands: past, present and future

In this paper, the past, present and possible future developments of energy policy for the built environment in the Netherlands are described briefly. The focus is on the development of and necessity for introducing new policy instruments for the built environment. Over the years, energy policy has evolved gradually to create a more integrated approach to the energy efficiency of buildings and larger urban districts. However, further evolution might be inevitable due to a shift of the primary driver for 'energy' policy from energy conservation to carbon dioxide reduction. Maximum targets of carbon dioxide emissions are being developed for each sector by 2010 and each sector has the obligation to meet its defined carbon dioxide reduction goal. Severe carbon dioxide reduction goals for the built environment in the Netherlands can only be achieved by means of energy efficiency improvement and fuel substitution, replacing natural gas with lower-carbon fuels. The introduction of lower-carbon fuels raises policy questions on whether to maintain the old infrastructure at great cost or whether investment should be in a new energy infrastructure and how this transition can be managed.