Mr Chairman/ Ms Chairwoman, ladies and gentlemen

1. Norway - Environmental plan of action

It is a pleasure for me to address this international conference on sustainability in the building and construction sector.

Authorities in all countries have an important responsibility to create the boundary conditions such that it becomes both easy and profitable for companies, households, and individuals, to make environmentally sound choices. Much has already been done by the authorities in Norway, but we still have a long way to go.

The Norwegian Government is clarifying the responsibility of the differtent sectors for achieving environmental policy objectives through sectoral environmental action plans. The plans are based on the principles of management by objectives and cost-effectiveness across sectors. Achievements according to these action plans are presented as part of the different ministries' annual budget proposal. Most ministries have made their plan of action, including my own.

My Ministry has emphasized four main challenges for a more sustainable housing and building sector:

• To reduce the use of energy in buildings
• To reduce the amount of building waste and stimulate recycling
• To reduce the amount of hazardous substances in building materials and products
• To protect biodiversity and stimulate area efficient solutions

2. The challenges

Energy

We know that the building sector is a major player in the Climate Change Challenge. About 40% of all our energy use is connected to buildings. Norway is fortunate in having access to large quantities of relatively cheap, renewable hydroelectric power. Our total energy production and consumption are now just in balance, but consumption is increasing – houses, shopping centres, and even holiday-homes are getting larger, and more luxurious.

The easy access to cheap electricity in Norway has restrained interest in energy conservation. Much of our electricity is used directly for heating, whereas use of heat pumps, for example, would give us about three times as much useful heat for each kilowatt-hour. But heat pumps, and other energy-efficient solutions, need new infrastructure in buildings, and new competence among architects, engineers, contractors, and caretakers alike. Building up this new knowledge, and spreading it to everyone in this field is a major challenge that needs good partnership between the public and private sectors. We have, however, seen a very positive development as the amount of heat- pumps used in housing has increased from 3 000 to 30 000 in just a few years. This development has been “helped” by cold winters and high electrity bills.

Enova is a public enterprise established in 2001 and owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy. Enova’s main mission is to contribute to environmentally sound and rational use and production of energy, relying on financial instruments and incentives to stimulate market actors and mechanisms to achieve national energy policy goals.

Enova advises the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy in questions relating to energy efficiency and new renewable energy. To achieve Enovas objectives, the Norwegian Parliament has set up an Energy Fund and indicated grants within a framework of up to approximtely 650 million Euro over a ten-year period. The funding will come from a levy on the electricity distribution tariffs and from ordinary grants over the national budget.

Enova manages the Energy Fund and finances programmes and initiatives that support and underpin national objectives. Enova has the freedom to choose its policy measures and the responsibility to establish incentives and financial funding schemes that will result in cost effective and environmentally sound investments.

In 2002, the Norwegian government proposed an action plan for water-borne heating. Water-borne heating is important for us, as we need to reduce our dependence on electricity and increase the use of environmentally friendly primary energy sources for heating dwellings and other buildings. We will accomplish this by awarding financial support to good projects, supporting research, and dissemination of knowledge. In the beginning of 2003 a grant was established to promote the use of of waterborne heat- pumps in private households. The grants were given by Enova who received applications from 50 000 households in just a few weeks.

Building and construction waste

In Norway, the environmental protection authorities have given local councils the authority to require waste management plans and information on waste resulting from construction and demolishing projects. The goal is to reduce the volume of waste sent to landfill sites, and instead stimulate more recycling of materials and products. We have also introduced a duty-fee on waste treatment. The size of the duty has been set to reflect the true environmental costs that waste causes, and to make it financially prudent to both reduce the amount of waste, and to increase recycling. This way, companies that use environmentally friendly solutions are rewarded economically and gain a competitive edge over other companies that pose a larger environmental burden for society. We see that this duty has had a significant impact on the building trade, with increased reuse, recycling and energy exploitation of waste.

Materials

As you know, the number of products and materials used in buildings has increased dramatically in the last 50 years. Many of the products and materials contain compounds or substances that pose a risk to health and endanger the environment. Norwegian authorities have established a ‘blacklist’ with data on over 200 dangerous compounds and groups of compounds. The list helps companies to choose appropriate materials and products, also in the construction trade.

The technical regulations say that buildings with installations shall be planned, designed, constructed, maintained and operated in such manner that the indoor climate is perceived satisfactory. No health hazard and unsatisfactory hygienic conditions shall occur, neither for the users of the building nor for its neighbours, when the rooms are used as intended.

3. The Planning and Building Act

The Planning and Building Act is an important instrument to reach sustainability in the housing and building sector. Two ministries are responsible for this act; The Ministry of Environment for the planning regulations and my ministry for the building regulations.

In 1998 a committee was appointed to review the planning Act. The committee presented an official report to the minister of Environment this year. Among other things, the committee suggests that one of the main purposes of the act must be to promote sustainable development. The physical, economical and culturel development in municipalities and counties must be seen in connection, and in a long –term perspective. The committee report is now sent on official hearing, and a proposition to the Odelsting will be prepared.

Environmental impact assessment (in short EIA) as a tool to integrate environmental concerns and considerations into the decision - making processes, has been implemented in the legal systems in Norway. The Norwegian Parliament adopted the first general legislation on EIA in 1990, as part of the Planning and Building Act. By the end of 2002, approximately 600 projects have been subject to EIA. These cover all major development projects in Norway during a period of nearly twenty years. The most frequent project types are ores, light industry, public buildings and roads. Recently, windmill farms are becoming a common project type as well. By 2005, Norway is planning to include provisions om strategic environmental assessment (SEA) in the Planning and Building Act. SEA, as you may know, is related to the possible environmental effects of a proposed plan or programme and, in some instances, also policies and legislation.

Environmental considerations are already integrated in many parts of the building legislation, and the authorities are actively working on spreading guidance on good solutions to the construction sector. The National Office of Building Technology and Administration, which is a public office under my ministry, plays an important role in this. This office is also active in standardization works that are very important to the develoment of sustaniability. Our technical building regulations state that all phases of a building’s life cycle, that is, from acquisition, and use, through to demolition, shall be conducted with only a modest load on resources and the environment, and without compromising quality of life or social circumstances. Constructions shall be designed and erected such that little energy is used, and little pollution is created during the building’s entire lifespan, including the demolition phase. The limits that building regulations set for energy consumption in new buildings, is now under evaluation, and may be further tightened. This work must be seen in connection with The EU- directive on energy use and energy certificates for buildings. An important objective with a future revision is to stimulate more energy flexibility and to integrate renewables.

The Government has appointed a committee to review the building part of the Planning and Building Act. Environmental consideration as one of the main purposes of the Act will be discussed in the official report from the Building Legislation Committee.

4. Housing politics and environment - The Norwegian State Housing Bank

The Norwegian State Housing Bank (Husbanken) has played an important role in the country’s housing sector for more than 50 years— it finances 40% of all new housing. A condition for getting a loan from the bank, for new housing, is that the dwellings must have a good, but modest standard. The bank can give higher loans, and in some cases a subsidy, for buildings with special qualities of benefit to society. This includes, for example, environmentally friendly solutions and suitability for the aged and handicapped. The Housing bank is also awarding financial support to good projects, supporting research, and dissemination of knowledge on sustainablity issues.

In Norway the overall standard of housing is very high, both in terms of size and quality. The work of The Housing bank is one important explanation to this fact. Another is the chosen model of ownership to housing. In Norway about 80 % of the total number of dwellings are privately owned. Our housing policy since 1945 has resulted in minor problems with substandard residential areas and deprived neighbourhoods.

The future direction of Norwegian housing policy and the bank’s financial services will be discussed in a White Paper, which will be presented to the Norwegian parliament at the turn of the year 2003- 2004. Among other issues, the White Paper will discuss the two big questions in relation to standard, namely environmental concern and accessability.

5. The existing building stock

The main challenges concerning sustainability are related to the existing building stock which represents approximately 98 % of total built area in m2. At the same time, many of the instruments that set requirements for the standard of buildings, are aimed at new buildings. As I mentioned earlier, 80 % of the housing stock is privately owned. 61 % of non residential building floor space is also privately owned . These facts create spesific problems as the owners cannot be forced to carry out rehabilitation or choose sustatinable measures when work is being done. Only under very strict circumstances, due to for instance fire, healt or security risk, can the authorities take action in relation to the owner.

The last few years the Government has had a special focus on public buildings. Financial aid has been given to municipalities to improve the standard of public schools, where indoor climate issues and energy use has been in focus. In the near future an official committee will be appointed by the Government to come up with proposals on how to secure a sustainable management of public buildings. The committee will give special attention to issues concerning the reduce of life cycle cost of maintenance and energy use. We hope that the results from this initiative will have a rub- off effect on other parts of the housing and building sector.

6. Private- public partnerships- cooperation

Cooperation between the authorities and the building trade is crucial to Norway’s governmental policies aimed at solving the environmental challenges related to the building sector. The authorities can use their power to set favourable boundary conditions, but it is the building sector itself that must come up with, and apply, the solutions.

My Ministry has therefore collaborated with the Ministry of the Environment and all relevant professional bodies in the Norwegian building and real estate sector in a five-year programme, called the EcoBuild- programme. The programme ended last year. EcoBuild has developed and spread knowledge on new techniques and technologies in the building sector for sustainable buildings. The key to the success of the programme has been accepting that the private sector must commit itself and provide its expertise for this work to be successful. The board of EcoBuild has therefore consisted of representatives from the private sector: architects, engineering consultants, investors, etc. EcoBuild has worked strategically to reduce the environmental loads related to the Norwegian building mass. By first charting their own environmental challenges, setting up their own environmental goals, implementing pilot and collaborative projects, network projects, network building, and spreading information and methods, the programme has laid the foundation for a more sustainable building sector in Norway. I know that the EcoBuild programme was on the agenda for yeasterday´s meeting so I won´t go further into the matter.

I will end my speech by saying that I hope you will return home with useful experiences and ideas for future work. I also hope that this conference can contribute to accelerate the positive process of adaptation in the building sector, both internationally and in Norway. It is important to make visible the fact that protection of the environment, and competitiveness in the business, go hand-in-hand.

I thank you for your kind attention!