Becoming sustainable: Learning in demonstration projects

Paper in proceeding, 2007

Contributions enhancing sustainable development in construction and building are no longer a sport for “early adopters” of eco and green technologies or for companies that can afford to experiment with new paths. After a time of “anarchy”, under which norms were disqualified, quality was an individual responsibility and an unbelievable increase of energy use was notified in new building, a time of change seems to characterize the Swedish construction sector. The unsoundness of this change is maybe the effect of what happens in transition phases when these are not actively managed. Implementation is going on. Existing technologies and knowledge, fruits of the many innovations carried on during the last decades, are finally called to be introduced in “normal” building practices and meet obvious difficulty on this direction. Learning goes on in demonstration projects for sustainable building.