PhD project:  Climate implication and adaptation measures for buildings

Norway’s weather is extremely varied, the rugged topography being one of the main reasons for large local differences over short distances. The seasonal variations are also extreme. Scenarios for climate change indicate that Norway has to prepare for even more rain, more intense precipitation over parts of Norway, and an overall increase in temperatures over the next decades. Unfortunately, the building stock is particularly vulnerable even to the climate exposure of today. Hence, we are entering an era with a need for a much stronger focus on building physics, moisture-resilience and risk reduction measures related to potential moisture damage and increased occurrence of extreme weather.

The building standards and design guidelines presuppose use of historic weather data, and may be an obstacle for efficient adaptation to a changing climate. It is an urgent need for increased knowledge about the climate influence on the building stock as well as for critical building components and materials.

The main objective of Jørn Emil Gaarder’s PhD project is to analyse the potential consequences of climate change for Norwegian buildings. The result is needed in developing of effective geographical dependent adaptation measures, which is asked for by the Consortium partners, the Norsk klimaservicesenter and Byggforskserien.

The supervisor team is Prof. Tore Kvande (NTNU), Chief Scientist Berit Time (SINTEF) and PhD Hans Olav Hygen (The Norwegian Meteorological Institute).