The purpose of the project is to minimise the carbon footprint in the construction industry.
"We cannot achieve meaningful progress by focusing solely on sustainable construction in Norway while similar priorities are not emphasized in other regions, such as parts of Africa and India," Kioumarsi states.
Net Zero Future serves as a platform to unite researchers, industry leaders, and policymakers from diverse parts of the world in pursuit of innovative solutions and impactful partnerships.
The five-year project addresses five areas: zero or negative carbon materials, new construction technology, innovative structural design, advanced monitoring of structures, and policy-making strategies.
It is part of the INTPART project funded by the Norwegian Research Council and Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-dir). INTPART stands for independent research of high international quality.
Education and International Exchange
Education and research lie at the heart of Net Zero Future. The project is developing a specialized Ph.D. course aimed at equipping students and engineers with the skills and knowledge needed to tackle carbon reduction challenges.
Additionally, it facilitates an international exchange program among partner institutions: OsloMet (Norway), Technical University of Darmstadt (Germany), Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (India), University of Cape Town (South Africa), and Iowa State University (USA).
"Educating the next generation of engineers and researchers in sustainable construction is one of the most vital aspects of our mission," Kioumarsi emphasises.
Conferences for Networking and Collaboration
Another important part of the project is to organise annual conferences for networking, knowledge sharing, and professional discussions. The first was held in Oslo in June 2024, with over 300 participants from 45 countries.
The next conference is scheduled to take place in November 2025, in Cape Town, South Africa—a city recognized for its commitment to sustainability. Kioumarsi encourages researchers to see this conference as an important event and invites them to participate and submit articles.
After the first conference, the team organising the conferences took a closer look at whether they are on the right track towards the project's goals.
"We received overwhelmingly positive feedback from the participants, and we are pleased to see that the conference has already led to new research collaborations and opportunities.”
"We look forward to continuing to improve the quality of the conferences and strengthen the collaboration between academics and the industry."
Vision for a Lasting Impact
Looking ahead, the team envisions establishing a non-profit organization, also named Net Zero Future, to continue and expand the project's activities beyond its conclusion in 2028.
The aim is then to involve even more organisations and universities from even more countries in the Net Zero Future platform.
The plan is for such an organisation to focus on the five thematic areas, and have an expert team for each area that can actively collaborate with the industry and universities, run courses, seminars and educate engineers.
"This is not a short-term initiative where we declare success and stop. Our goal is to sustain and evolve the project’s activities, adapting our objectives as we progress.”
"Net Zero Future has proven to be an exciting initiative towards a more sustainable future in the construction industry, and we look forward to seeing more of the results of the project.
"It's about shaping tomorrow's engineers, building strong global partnerships and above all, creating a more sustainable future for the construction industry," Kioumarsi concludes.
