Sustainability of constructions: integrated approach to life-time structural engineering: proceedings of the 1st workshop of the COST Action C25

Abstract

The Workshop “Sustainability of Constructions” is the outcome of the first year of activity of COST Action C25 “Sustainability of Constructions - Integrated Approach to Life-time Struc-tural Engineering”.

The COST Action C25 was approved on 29-30 March 2006, during the 164th Meeting of the Committee of Senior Officials for Scientific and Technical Research (COST), and the Kick-off Meeting was held on the 3rd of October 2006 in Brussels. Since its approval, 26 countries (Aus-tria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, fyr Macedonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden, Turkey and United Kingdom) and one EC Joint Research Centre joined this project, becoming the Action C25 one of the more participated Ac-tions in the Domain of Transport and Urban Development (TUD).

The main objective of the Action is to promote science-based developments in sustainable con-struction in Europe through the collection and collaborative analysis of scientific results con-cerning life-time structural engineering and especially integration of environmental assessment methods and tools of structural engineering.

The Action involves a wide range of experts from a variety of disciplines related to the con-struction sector. The participating countries nominated almost one hundred Management Com-mittee (MC) delegates and Working Group (WG) members, which represent different fields of expertise, different cultures, different approaches and different visions of the society and the world. In accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding three Working Groups were cre-ated and cover the three main areas of the Action:

In accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding the coordination of C25 activity is being carried out by the MC and three WGs that cover the three main areas of the Action. The coordi-nators of MC and of WGs are also the organizers of this 1st Workshop on “Sustainability of Constructions”:

Management Committee Chair – Luís Bragança (University of Minho, Portugal) Vice-chair – Heli Koukkari (VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Finland)

WG1 – Criteria for Sustainable Constructions Chair – Rijk Blok (University of Technology Eindhoven, Netherlands) Vice-Chair – Helena Gervásio (GIPAC, Lda., Portugal)

WG2 – Eco-efficiency Chair – Milan Veljkovic (Luleå University of Technology, Sweden) Vice-Chair – Zbigniew Plewako (Rzeszów University of Technology, Poland)

WG3 – Life-time structural engineering Chair – Raffaele Landolfo (University of Naples “Federico II”, Italy) Vice-Chair – Viorel Ungureanu (Politehnica University of Timisoara, Romania)

Website and Databases Chair – Luís Simões da Silva (University of Coimbra, Portugal)

The Workshop main topics cover a wide range of up-to-date issues and the contributions re-ceived from the delegates reflect critical research and the best available practices in the Sustain-able Construction field. The issues presented include:

Criteria for Sustainable Constructions – Global methodologies – Assessment methods – Global models – Databases

Eco-efficiency – Eco-efficient use of natural resources in construction – Eco-efficient materials – Eco-efficient products – Eco-efficient processes

Life-time structural engineering – Design for durability – Life-cycle performance – Maintenance and deconstruction

The Organizing Committee wants to warmly thank all the authors who have contributed with papers for publication in the proceedings. Their efforts reflect their commitment and dedication to Science and Sustainable Construction.

A special gratitude is also addressed to Dr. Thierry Goger and Ms. Carmencita Malimban from COST Office and ESF (European Science Foundation) for their help in administrative matters and COST financial support.

The organisers hope that this initiative will promote further the sustainability of construction in-dustry and the built environment, consequently, contributing to further sustainable development of the participating countries.

The Organizing Committee and Proceedings Editors

Luís Bragança (University of Minho, Portugal) Heli Koukkari (VTT Technical Research Centre, Finland) Rijk Blok (University of Technology Eindhoven, The Netherlands) Helena Gervásio (GIPAC, Lda., Portugal) Milan Veljkovic (Luleå University of Technology, Sweden) Zbigniew Plewako (Rzeszów University of Technology, Poland) Raffaele Landolfo (University of Naples “Federico II”, Italy) Viorel Ungureanu (Politehnica University of Timisoara, Romania) Luís Simões da Silva (University of Coimbra, Portugal)