About SINTEF Community
Business areas
We create value for our customers and society through research and development, research-based consulting, certification, and knowledge dissemination. We offer specialist expertise in architecture, building, water, digital transport solutions, and economics. We develop solutions for the future sustainable society.
We work with solutions for the built society where people meet, live, and work and where we travel when we move from one place to another. Our research projects centers around technical solutions for buildings, infrastructure, and transport. Still, they are about creating a basis for the community through good socio-economic and sustainable solutions.
Our business areas are:
Research and development
As a research and development partner, we can help you get in touch with other partners - nationally and internationally. SINTEF Community aspires to build international cutting edge competence, also benefiting the Norwegian buidling industry.
Research based consultancy
An independent third party can contribute with new perspectives on challenging projects. SINTEF's experience with specialist consultancy, project review, and other analytical services gives us a unique insight into the Norwegian building, construction, and housing sectors' challenges.
Product documentation
Whether you manufacture or buy building products - product documentation from SINTEF Certification provides you with documentation that ensures quality, complies with all regulatory documentation requirements, and provides guidelines for use.
Dissemination
Knowledge has no value unless it is shared. Therefore, SINTEF disseminates the latest, research-based knowledge to the building industry.
- The Building Research Series
- The building industry's wet room norm
- SINTEF books
- SINTEF academic press
Priority research areas
Based on the significant challenges facing the world, SINTEF Community has chosen to focus specifically on the following areas for our research and development:
In future transport, we aim to reduce energy consumption and air emissions from transportation and infrastructure development. This is done by using new technology for increased traffic safety and a more efficient transport system. The goal is a sustainable development of infrastructure and better mobility through the development and application of technology, new mobility services, and business models.
Architecture and area development is centered around how buildings and areas are experienced and perceived in an interaction between people, surroundings, and technology. The goal is to create robust, inclusive, and sustainable buildings and areas that are good to live in and have high quality for their users. We work with housing solutions for various user groups, including inclusive and socially sustainable area development, upgrading existing housing stock with increased architectural quality and quality of use, and health-promoting architecture.
Climate adaptation is about developing solutions for the built environment that will withstand the stress of a changing climate. The research area aims to increase knowledge and create climate-adapted regions, buildings, and infrastructure innovations. SINTEF will take a closer look at topics such as buildings and the buidling process, surface water management, water quality, organization and drivers, use of data for prevention and adaptation, and economics and climate risk.
Energy and zero-emission solutions for buildings and areas tackle how we build, operate, and use buildings and areas in ways that ensure the right energy and power use and the right quality for the users of the buildings - while minimizing greenhouse gas emissions throughout the life cycle. We will contribute to creating sustainable buildings and areas by developing and applying technology, new energy services, and business models. We work with ventilation and energy distribution (including indoor thermal climate and air quality), building-integrated energy collection (e.g., solar cells, heat pump), energy use and flexibility, passive measures in the building (solutions for new buildings and rehabilitation), and user perspective in buildings and areas.
Our research area on building materials is about materials and solutions used in buildings and infrastructure. This includes the development of new and improvement of current materials and new areas of application. The research area handles technical and environmental assessments of solutions and processes and models and concepts for evaluating these. In these areas, SINTEF sees opportunities in low carbon concrete, geo resources, circular economy, reuse/recycling, and solutions for climate shells.
Construction is a focus area where we see constructions and physical infrastructure from a life cycle perspective. This includes load-bearing structures in buildings, transport infrastructure (bridge, road, tunnel, railway), and other heavy physical infrastructure (dams, mountain halls, mines, floating structures, and the like). The aim is to strengthen our expertise in construction technology through close collaboration with SINTEF Narvik, further develop digital solutions for underground technology and focus on smart maintenance.
Water applies to the entire water cycle and concrete solutions, e.g., water supply, infrastructure management (outdoor and indoor), water treatment, and resource recovery. Climate change, societal security, digitalization, and a growing population are key drivers. SINTEF wants to contribute to development in areas such as sensor technology-leakage warning, methods for lifetime assessment of pipes and membrane products, water quality and legionella, reuse, and recycling of sanitary and wet room products, advanced risk assessment methods for water safety, resource recovery from municipal wastewater, water sludge handling, as well as machine learning for process control.
Emission-free buildings and construction sites concerns with solutions and methods to minimize waste, emissions, and energy use from building and construction activities. By providing and implementing new technology and optimizing workflows and processes, emissions will be reduced. Through collaboration with other disciplines, SINTEF's ambition is to move the boundaries to reduce indirect emissions from transport, material extraction, and material used with the building process itself as a starting point.
