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The ENBRI Conference - Celebrating 20 years of networking

"Moving the construction sector forward through research, innovation and standardization" held at IMEC, Leuven, Belgium on 2nd October 2008

Over 100 delegates attended the conference "Moving the construction sector forward through research, innovation and standardization" organised by ENBRI to celebrate its 20th anniversary.

The conference was opened by the Executive Secretary of ENBRI Carlo de Pauw, one of the pioneers who was amongst the signatories of the original ENBRI Memorandum of Understanding.  Mr. De Pauw welcomed delegates to the IMEC in Leuven, Belgium and noted his particular pleasure to see in the audience another founder signatory of the original ENBRI Memorandum of Understanding - Mr. Roger Courtney.  Mr. De Pauw went on to describe the achievements of ENBRI over its 20 year history - particularly relating to its greater engagement with the European Commission and its activities to help steer EU R&D efforts to better reflect the European construction industry's needs.  He recalled that in the beginning it was difficult to get Construction Research established on the research ‘map' because the construction sector was often perceived by senior Commission decision takers as being so traditional that there was no place for innovation nor a need for research. Construction is now on the map to stay and a lot of people recognize the importance of the construction sector in meeting the environmental and social challenges which we face.

The first presentation was given by Lone Moller Sorensen, the current President of ENBRI.  Mrs Sorensen described in more detail ENBRI's achievements including information transfer activities through the ENBRI Newsletter Construction Technology in Europe, a special issue of which had been produced for the event, the organisations growth to reflect the enlargement of Europe and greater awareness across borders of the large, sometimes unique, research and testing infrastructures that ENBRI members operate.  Mrs Sorensen then went on to expand on "diversity" as a typical characteristic of Europe and that it can also be translated to ENBRI and even called "Strength in Diversity".

In Europe we span at least four climate zones (Mediterranean, Maritime, Continental and Coastal Nordic); we unite different cultures and traditions and speak many languages.  All this has its impact on the construction sector, particularly on:

  • the need for frost-resistant materials
  • methods used and necessity for pile foundations
  • how we communicate with on-site staff and building users, and the way we provide training courses

These very typical aspects demonstrate that there is a real need to have distributed centers of competence in construction technology which can work close to industry and also in collaboration with local small and medium-sized enterprises.

Mrs Sorensen also highlighted the 5 elements of the ENBRI strategy:

  • fulfilling user and stakeholder needs
  • updating and improving the built environment
  • exploiting new materials and technologies
  • changing construction processes and relationships
  • raising environmental standards

Finally she expanded on interactions with users and stakeholders on the issue of the relative slow take-up of IT solutions to many of the challenges facing both the demand and supply side in the European construction sector.

Next, Scott Steedman, the current President of ECCREDI, gave a presentation regarding the pathway which has lead to the formulation of an R&D research agenda in the construction sector.  Initially Mr Steedman paused to note the crucial role that ENBRI has had in marshalling lobbying forces within the sector.  This activity had been central in establishing the EFCT-TRA (Environmentally Friendly Construction Technologies Targeted Research Action, E-CORE (European Construction Research Network) and the current ECTP (European Construction Technology Platform).  Mr Steedman argued that drivers for European construction R&D are themselves dynamic.  This is clearly demonstrated by the current "credit crunch" which is now heavily influencing the construction sector.  Mr Steedman explained the he believed that carbon, not cost, will become a primary design (and hence R&D) determinant.  More generally, future new drivers in society would also be new and include responses to the current "credit crunch", food and energy security, and human migration.  More specifically in construction the effective retrofitting of buildings would assume a far greater significance than at present.  Overall, Mr Steedman argued, there would be a greater need for public engagement regarding the type of buildings that the industry provided.

A session then took place on construction products in the common market.  This was led by a presentation by Tapani Mikkeli, from the Construction Unit in DG Enterprise and Industry.  Mr Mikkeli set the scene by describing the proposed changes to the Commission's Construction Products Regulations intended to deliver clearer, simplified and more credible regulations reflecting an increasing focus on sustainability issues.  Mr Mikkeli then described changes in terminology within the Regulations where alongside the former six "essential requirements" of the CPD (Construction Product Directive) a seventh "Building Works Requirement" (BWR) is to be introduced; this is the requirement dealing with Sustainability.  Mr Mikkeli clearly explained the situation where "product requirement" issues are dealt with at European level while "building requirement" issues are dealt with at Member State level.

John Moore, the CEN Construction Sector Rapporteur, then went on to describe how an effective standards structure could and should protect and support innovation and how, at a European level, there was much activity to better understand how to assess the environmental performance of buildings.  This was followed by a talk from Sean Balfe on the role of the UEAtc and its activities in the construction sector.  Mr Balfe compared the roles of standards compared to agreement approvals and the future expanding opportunities for agreements in an increasingly innovative environment. 

Finally, Rainer Mikulitis, the Managing Director of OIB, the Austrian approval body, considered the increasing need for new construction products to respond to new challenges, particularly relating to energy and sustainability issues.  Mr Mikulitis described how ETAs were an excellent response to these needs and the approval of innovative products which responded to these needs.  According to Mr. Mikkulits the CPR is not strong enough to exclude all remaining technical barriers for CE marked products. In this respect he pointed out that "…the proposal for a new construction products regulation is a step in the right direction, in that it takes into account sustainability as a Basic Works Requirement, but it does not yet take sufficient account of innovative products especially with regard to an equal treatment of standardized and innovative (ETA) products".
A lively debate was subsequently initiated and this aspects of regulation, innovation and standardization.

The afternoon session began with an overview from Luc Bourdeau, the ECTP Secretary General, on the work of the ECTP focusing on its Strategic Research Agenda and how this would hopefully underpin and direct construction R&D at a European level.

Mr Bourdeau then introduced three speakers from the European Commission who outlined the present status ad future plans for their respective research programmes. Adele Lydon, Christophe Lesniak and Merce Griera I Fisa spoke on these issues. Mrs Lydon was one of the pioneers at the European Commission and was responsible for promoting projects in the field of the construction sector. Her first contact with ENBRI dates back to 1991 (with her colleague David Miles). She was also at the origin of the first construction sector topic "City of Tomorrow". Mr Lesniak was key in setting up the ECTP, European Construction Technology Platform and is responsible for the NMP action.  Common themes in these presentations were the changing focus of research to meet new challenges, the increasing centrality of construction R&D in EU research strategy and the key role of organisations such as ENBRI, ECCREDI and the ECTP in directing this strategy.  In their respective presentation the Commission representatives also fully described the different topics which would be addressed in future FP7 calls.

The final session of the conference looked at the "stepping stones" that may be required to achieve the R&D goals for construction. Initially, Claude Lenglet, of Bouygues and co-leader of the JTI E2B, described the centrality of the E2B (Energy Efficient Buildings Joint Technology Initiative) to the CO2 reduction goals which the construction industry needs to meet. Mr Lenglet described E2B as "thinking big" as the proposal for the JTI is similar to starting a new company and explained that society need to start making changes on the same scale as the problems it faces. Mr Lenglet explained that buildings are responsible for 40% of total EU Energy consumption and about 30% of greenhouse gas emissions during their construction and operation. The overall objective of the E2B JTI is to deliver, implement and optimise building and district concepts that have the technical, economic and societal potential to drastically cut the energy consumption and reduce CO2 emissions due to existing and new buildings across the European Union. The E2B JTI will speed up research on key technologies and develop a competitive industry in the fields of energy efficient processes products and services. The main purpose is to reach the climate change reduction goals set for 2020 and 2050 and contribute to improving EU energy security thereby transforming these challenges into a business opportunity. Plans for the JTI are well advanced as are discussions with the Commission regarding its funding. Links are also being established with other European construction and energy related technology platforms such as ESTEP (European Steel Technology Platform), HFCP (Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Platform), PVTP (Photovoltaic Technology Platform), ESTTP (European Solar Thermal Technology Platform) and SUSCHEM (Sustainable Chemistry)

A presentation was then given by the host organisation. Robert Mertens, a Senior Vice President at IMEC, described some of the work, of particular relevance to the construction sector, currently underway at IMEC. In particular Mr Mertens focused on innovations in developing photovoltaic (PV) cells and advanced wireless technologies for buildings, including wireless energy distribution, and energy harvesting in buildings. With respect to PV cells, Mr. Mertens judged that c-Si cells are the best option for roof integration while lower efficiency Si thin film, and in the long run OPV, technologies integrated on glass may be best applied for façade and window integration. Visual intrusion may require novel cell and module designs, especially in the case of crystalline Si cells. Mr Martens predicted that emerging technologies to generate and distribute electrical energy in buildings have a great future. Wireless solutions might save cost by getting rid of cables and their installation. Linked to that energy harvesting techniques applied in buildings and functioning on light, temperature differences, vibration or a combination of these technologies were expected to become of importance for sensor nodes in buildings allowing the realization of the smart homes of the future. Electronics in future homes may well be powered by wireless transmission sheets embedded in the floor.  All these applications will be made possible by semiconductor technologies such as solar cells, MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) and organic large area electronics.

Finally, Roger Courtney, a former President of ENBRI, concluded the formal part of the conference with a consideration of the need for new models for transforming construction. Mr Courtney questioned whether construction was producing the right outputs and did it produce its outputs through an optimum process. If our models weren't correct Mr Courtney suggested that this might be a reason as to why research outcomes were not having the anticipated impact on the industry.  A significant proportion of improvements in the industry were related to people and the processes in the industry. In the future it is quite probable that key research issues will not be technological or material-based but will be based on how people in the supply chain interact.

The conference was closed by Andraz Legat, Vice-President of ENBRI, who emphasised the importance of a focus on market issues when discussing innovation and standardization.  Similarly there is a need for a focus on people when developing materials and technologies. Mr. Legat finally thanked all the speakers for their stimulating and thought-provoking presentation and to the delegates for participating in some interesting debates during the day.

The individual presentations are available on www.bbri.be/go/enbri/ under the section programme.