Page 60 - ZEB Final Report 2009-2017

60 | ZEB Zero Emission Buildings | Final Report 2017

Terje Jacobsen
Vice President, Research SINTEF,
Industrial Liason, ZEB

Effects of the ZEB Centre for

the Overarching Goal of the

FME-Programme

The Centre on Zero Emission Buildings was established as a direct result of the
Norwegian Parliament's climate agreement in 2008. The Research Council of
Norway states that the FME scheme shall boost innovation and value creation for
1
the partners and the wider society. It should help to reduce national and international
greenhouse gas emissions and promote a more eficient use of energy. Furthermore,
it should increase the production of renewable energy, cultivate research groups,
increase the visibility of research results, and promote a knowledge-based debate on

environment-friendly energy.

With this in mind, we may, with confidence, are expected due to activities in pilot areas in the new ZEN
state that ZEB has: Centre.
• Shown how to design and build zero emission buildings. • Results from the ZEB Centre are included in a national
A building concept that promotes energy efficiency, the use standard on the calculation of greenhouse gas emissions in
of environment-friendly materials and renewable energy. buildings.
• Started the development of new technologies for future zero
emission buildings However the progress regarding changes in the Building Acts
• Implemented research tools for this development, i.e. and Regulations is not as forceful as the political goals and
laboratories, definitions, and pilot buildings the results from the ZEB Centre imply:
• Educated MSc- and PhD-candidates for the building • Considerations of greenhouse gas emissions are so far not
industry and the research community. included in the building regulations. The focus is still only
• Shown the way towards the development of the zero on energy use.
emission society (i.e. The Research Centre on Zero Emission • Near zero energy buildings, as outlined by the 2020 goal in
Neighbourhoods in Smart Cities – ZEN Centre). EU and EEA, is not yet implemented, although the nearly
• The partners in the ZEB Centre are including zero emission passive house standard is in place.
buildings in their business strategies. • Local collection and conversion of renewable energy
• Some of the larger cities in Norway have started to is gradually being implemented, but there are still no
implement solutions for the low carbon society in their satisfactory arrangements in the regulations for delivering
environmental master plans by looking at the possibilities energy (thermal and electric) to the grid. However, some
demonstrated by the ZEB Centre. Further developments work in this direction has started.

1 The Research Council of Norway, Web-page: The Centres for Environment-friendly Energy Research scheme (FME) – Description of the scheme.