Dear Reader,
The CCC research program is up and running.
International consensus on the need for climate action has never been so strong.
Last month, the Volvo Group renewed its partnership with WWF, confirming its commitment to the Climate Savers program to reduce its carbon-dioxide emissions, not only from its products and manufacturing but also to provide leadership on reducing emissions throughout the transport sector. The agreement entails important commitments to action by the Group and one of the commitments is the continuation and strengthening of the Construction Climate Challenge (CCC), initiative launched in June by Volvo Construction Equipment.
CCC aims to create a dialogue with industry representatives, academics and politicians, as well as providing funding for new research and share existing knowledge and resources to help the industry make a difference for generations to come. It is a platform which aims to promote climate sustainability across the construction industry value chain. Part of its mission is to help ‘fill the research gap’ and provide funding for studies of interest to the construction sector.
Following a research call last summer, four pre-study projects have been selected and are now up and running. These selected projects cover different research topics, such as: energy efficiency, sustainable innovations, circular business models and emerging sustainable technologies.
• Researchers at the Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden, are exploring energy storage systems for construction applications;
• A Swedish-Chinese project, including researchers at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm (KTH), Sweden and Wuhan University of Technology (WHUT), Wuhan, Hubei, China, is working to reduce the emissions and the carbon footprint of construction processes;
• IVL, the Swedish Environmental Research Institute, is looking at approaches for reducing construction-related emissions through the development of circular business models that can lead to a zero carbon footprint;
• The many complex elements of sustainability are being analysed by a group at the Luleå University of Technology, Sweden. Their aim is to develop a holistic perspective which will help guide innovation in advanced engineering projects.
The CCC initiative is starting to build momentum and the results of these studies will be discussed during the CCC Summit which will take place in Gothenburg, Sweden, in June 2015. This event - bringing together industry, government and academia - will focus on the progress made and the priorities for future research and action to reduce future emissions across the construction industry supply chain. |