ZEB presentation.pdf (en)

ZEB presentation.pps (no)

ZEB employees.pps (additional presentation in internal pages)

About The Research Centre on Zero Emission Buildings – ZEB

In February 2009, the Research Council of Norway assigned The Faculty of Architecture and Fine Art at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology to host the Research Centre on Zero Emission Buildings (ZEB), which is one of eight new national Centres for Environment-friendly Energy Research (FME). The main objective of the FME-centres is to contribute to the development of good technologies for environmentally friendly energy and to raise the level of Norwegian expertise in this area. In addition, they should help to generate new industrial activity and new jobs. The centres have been selected primarily on the basis of the scientific merit of their research, and their potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to generate innovation and value creation. The Research Council of Norway has been responsible for selection. Over the next eight years, the FME-Centre ZEB will develop competitive products and solutions for existing and new buildings that will lead to market penetration of zero emission buildings related to their production, operation and demolition.

The ZEB Centre consortium encompasses the following partners:

• The Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NTNU (the host of the Centre). The main departments are: Dept. of Architectural Design, History and Technology (host institution), Dept. of Civil and Transport Engineering, Dept. of Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture and Dept. of Energy and Process Engineering.
• SINTEF (research partner). The main SINTEF units are: SINTEF Building and Infrastructure, SINTEF Materials and Chemistry, and SINTEF Energy Research.
• Skanska (large building contractor and developer)
• ByBo (housing developer)
• Weber (building products producer/supplier)
• Isola (building products producer/supplier)
• Glava (producer of insulation materials)
• Protan (manufacturer of building materials)
• Norsk Hydro (producer of aluminium products and solar systems)
• YIT (technical installations contractor)
• Brødrene Dahl (HVAC equipment supplier):
• Multiconsult (consulting company)
• Snøhetta (architect)
• Forsvarsbygg (state property developer/owner)
• Statsbygg (state property developer/owner)
• Husbanken (state housing bank)
• Byggenæringens landsforening (The Federation of Norwegian Construction Industries) including
• Byggevareindustriens landsforening (construction products association)
• Norsk Teknologi (Norwegian Technology; Confederation of companies within the technical and technological sector)
• Statens bygningstekniske etat (National Office of Building Technology and Administration )
• DuPont (Products and services Company

The Centre will also cooperate with private and public institutions and agencies that have dissemination as a major objective. These institutions and agencies will act as a  Reference Group to the ZEB Centre. The Reference Group members will be:

• Forbrukerrådet (Norwegian Consumer Council)
• NBBL (Norwegian Federation of Co-operative Housing Associations)
• NVE (Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate)
• EcoBox (environment information agency, Norwegian Association of Architects)
• Lavenergiprogrammet for bygg og anlegg (The Construction Industry Low-Energy Programme)
• Driftsforum (Forum for Building management, operation and maintenance of buildings at The Norwegian Society of HVAC)
• Enova SF (public enterprise owned by the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy)
• Byggemiljø - Byggenæringens miljøsekretariat

The centre will collaborate on relevant activities with the following prominent international researchinstitutions: VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Chalmers (Sweden), Fraunhofer (Germany), Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research – TNO, University of Strathclyde (Scotland), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA ), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (USA ), and the Tsinghua University (China).

Several of the R&D environments in ZEB are in the forefront of international research within their fields. The Centre’s combined expertise within material science, building technology, renewable energy, architecture and social sciences represent a real competitive edge. With the ZEB research centre, encompassing the R&D environment and the building industry, Norway will is a central player in the very important future international arena of sustainable energy use.

In total, the companies represented in the ZEB consortium account for an annual turnover of over NOK 200 billion and have more than 100,000 employees. ZEB is a historic initiative within the construction industry and a unique endeavour internationally. Over 40 % of all greenhouse gas emissions in Europe are from the construction industry, and according to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, this industry is where emissions-reducing measures are most profitable. The development of zero emission buildings is therefore a vital environmental measure.