In Nordic Sustainable Construction’s Work Package on Circularity task 3 focus is on harmonisation and green benefits of selected national annexes to the Eurocodes. We invite stakeholders with strong technical knowledge of how to assess existing structures to an online market dialogue meeting on Thursday the 19th of March at 13 hours to 14 hours CET.
Aim of market dialogue
The aim of the market dialogue meeting is to inform about the advertisement of a contract concerning the development of a Nordic Framework for the implementation of Eurocode 1990-2 Basis of structural design, Part 2 Assessment of existing structures.
Content
In the meeting the purpose, expected outcomes and which criteria there will be to make a tender for the contract will be presented. The participants are welcome to come with input or clarification questions to the assignment during the meeting.
The project period is June 2026 – September 2027. The amount available will be 1.9 mio. DKK.
The contract will amongst other elements include a request to:
- Map the current Nordic technical knowledge in the field and engage key stakeholders across the Nordic region
- Define the need for new knowledge and develop it to the extent possible
- Define the possibilities for digitalisation in the assessment process
- Clarify practical methods to test the assessments
- Technical suggestions for Nordic alignment including climate and resource optimised considerations in the development of National Annexes of Eurocode 1990-2 Basis of structural design, Part 2 Assessment of existing structures.
Background
Extending the use of the existing building stock contains a significant potential for a positive contribution to the environment and the climate, however there is a challenge in how to assess the safety and durability of existing structures, which are not covered by the existing Eurocodes.
Unlike new construction, existing structures are built to comply with standards or practises of the time of construction, therefore often built to withstand different climate and safety levels etc. Furthermore, different exposure, load conditions, changed used, functioning or damage and defects of the structure are all factors, which can lead to varying safety levels.
This is seen as a challenge both for scientists and the sector when standardising assessment of existing structures, as the structures vary and our methods and levels for not only safety has evolved. As a result, assessments of existing structures frequently involve evaluative judgements that are more difficult to standardise compared to design decisions and dimensioning for new structures.
This makes it challenging to define fully prescriptive and technically specific requirements and methods. With an increased focus on sustainability, resource efficiency, and climate adaptation the topic has gotten new attention and a new Eurocode has been developed to deal with it. In order to implement the Eurocode in different countries, each country will develop a National Annex to adapt the Eurocode to the local circumstances.
As this will be the first time for the Nordic countries to develop their National Annex to this Eurocode, there are opportunities for improved technical knowledge creation and suggestions for technical alignment. There is already knowledge about the topic in the Nordic countries, there is research in the field on how to document the safety and robustness of an existing structure, while also considering opportunities to minimise the use of resources and adapt it to a changing climate. However, there is still a lot of uncertainty in the research area, especially regarding how to apply the existing knowledge in practice and how to establish new processes and evaluation methods that can form a consistent documentation basis for the assessment of the existing structure.
How to join?
Interested parties may request interest to join the online meeting and/or to get the full advertisement material when it is ready by contacting nordicsustainableconstruction@sbst.dk.