Eco-innovation Strategies in the Construction
Sector: Impacts on Nanotech Innovation in the
Window Chain
M.M. Andersen and M. Molin
*
Abstract. In this paper we examine the strategic response of the construction companies to the climate agenda and the emerging nanotechnologies. A case is brought
on the Danish window industry. The construction industry has for a long time been
considered little innovative and this also goes for the window section. It seems that
a combination of an intensified focus on climate issues and the potential of
nanotechnology is invoking a new innovation potential and pressure in the window
industry. Specifically we identify a strategic shift among the major players towards
more systemic innovations that places the window as a part of the wider energy
system of the house, a trend that isn’t driven by but could be reinforced by the new
nanotech opportunities that so far only play a limited strategic role.
1 Introduction
The climate agenda is becoming increasingly important to the construction industry, none the least because of the strong focus on energy efficiency as a core
means to reach climate goals. As around 40 percent of energy is used in buildings
the construction sector is becoming a main target for climate policies world wide.
As the financial crisis is hitting hard on construction activities, climate issues are
becoming a rare potential growth area. Eco-innovation strategies, therefore, are on
the rise among construction companies.
Nanotechnology is only slowly emerging in construction, despite the fact that
the construction sector was among the first to be identified as a promising application area for nanotechnology back in the beginning of the 1990s [10]. Nanotechnology is essentially a new processes technology, enabling new functionalities of
M.M. Andersen
DTU Management
e-mail: [email protected]
http://www.man.dtu.dk
M. Molin
DTU Management
e-mail: [email protected]
http://www.man.dtu.dk
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M.M. Andersen and M. Molin
materials in the range of 1-100 nanometres, and can as such be particularly interesting for renewing traditional material industries such as construction and window production/glass-processing. As a general purpose technology it is expected
to have a pervasive impact on the economy but little is known on the effects in different industrial sectors. Until now nanotechnology has mainly been developed for
‘high-technology’ areas such as semiconductors and medicine while more traditional sectors, such as construction, have gained less attention [3].
This study contributes to a better understanding of the industrial dynamics involved in the uptake of nanotech in construction. It appears that the generally low
tech-tech and conservative construction sector is falling behind other sectors in
applying nanotechnology [10]. There are widespread claims of major climate
benefits to nanotechnologies (see e.g. [6, 8, 12, 13, 15-17]), but also risk issues related to health and environment prevail [1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 14, 16]. It is therefore
interesting to look into the eco-innovation strategies related to nanotech more in
detail in order to investigate if and how the climate claims translate into activities
on the market.
The paper investigates shortly the interrelationship between the eco-innovation
and nanotech strategies among construction companies. In other words, does the
rise of the climate agenda lead to a greater interest into nanotech opportunities - or
vice versa? A case is brought from the Danish window chain focusing on the core
Danish companies and their nanotech strategies and activities. The window chain
is interesting because it represents a relative early application area of nanotech in
construction as well as entailing a strong emphasis on energy efficiency issues.
The paper focuses on the three largest window producers in Denmark – Velux,
Velfac and Rationel1.
2 Competitive Conditions and Eco-innovation Strategies in the
Danish Window Industry
In Denmark there is a range of small window producers but only relatively few big
ones. There is no glass production in Denmark. The glass in bought in from major
foreign companies. The biggest Danish window producers all belong to the same
group, the VKR Group. The VKR Group has approx. 16,000 employees in more
than 40 countries and activities in the following five business areas: Roof windows and skylights, vertical windows, thermal solar energy, decoration and sunscreening as well as natural ventilation. The group’s 17.3 billion DKR revenue
comes mainly from the Velux entity (60% of it’s employees) producing and selling roof windows and skylights where they hold the a well known brand. Velfac
and Rationel form part of the Dovista company specializing in vertical windows.
The Danish window producers have traditionally competed primarily on price,
quality and design and the ability to make customized solutions. The building
regulation plays a key role in setting very direct framework conditions; hence the
window companies strategies have been very much oriented towards new policy
1
We would like to thank Torben Hundevad (Dovista), Carl Hammer (former Velfac), Erik
Bjørn (Dovista), Ellen K. Hansen (Velfac), Jens Winther (Velfac), Pia Tønder (Velux),
Peter Sønderkær (Velux), Claus Holm (Velux) for valuable information and interviews.
Eco-innovation Strategies in the Construction Sector
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trends more than the market. There has generally been limited incentive to undertake more radical innovations. While energy efficiency has been an issue since the
mid 1970s it has not been a major innovation driver among these incumbent companies. This seems to be changing quite substantially the last couple of years with
the rise of the climate agenda. New more proactive and radical eco-innovation
strategies are formed.
Windows as part of the building has changed character considerable during the
last 30 years. In the 80th the aim was to minimize the amount of windows a house
because of the loss of heat that they caused. This was to a large extent driven by
the building laws of the late 70th and beginning of 80th regulating energy consumption of a house by specifying the maximum area of windows that could be placed
in a house. This has created incentives for developing more narrow window panes.
The contemporary building regulations in Denmark have quite a flexible formulation. The total energy consumption of a house is regulated, but how you solve this
is up to the construction of the house. The total area of windows, its energy value
or the amount of insulation of a house is not regulated as long as the house as a
whole lives up to an energy budget.
The current climate focus has placed a much stronger demand for energy efficient windows which represent new market opportunities for the window producers; but it also represents a threat to the window industry because of the trend
towards reducing the amount of windows in the low-energy/-passiv energy/plus
energy houses.
The Danish companies analyzed have all reacted to these new competitive conditions in reformulating their strategies. An overall trend by these companies (in
the same group) is that the window increasingly is seen as an integrated part of the
house and none the least the energy system of the house. Instead of just focusing
on the light that a window provides they focus increasingly on the functions that a
window can provide as an integral part of the house. More advanced window innovations, including nanosolutions, such as new coatings enable new effects on
heating and indoor climate of the house. These new features of the window is
expanding the strategic focus of the Danish companies. These strategic considerations can be seen in a joint Velux and Velfac project called “bolig for livet” (housing for life), where they take a broader and more integrated understanding on energy efficiency, architecture and indoor climate than they have done earlier.
During the project they will build eight houses around Europe in the coming years
with a specific vision on energy, comfort and aesthetics.
According to Velfac The “bolig for livet” project is a different way to deal with
the same issues that the concept passive house does2, in emhpåasizing not only
2
Velfac in cooperation with Velux, Aart (architects) and Esbensen Rådgivende Ingeniører
A/S is building a future house called “bolig for Livet”. This house is to be: 1) CO2 neutral: it gives more than it takes and uses only sustainable energy. 2) Comfort and Wellbeing: there is harmony between light/shadow, heat/cold and in-door/outdoor conditions. 3)
Good indoor climate: Light, air and sound materials create comfort and good health. 4)
Architectural wholeness: The house is formed in interplay between energy, com-fort, and
aesthetics. 5) Good economy: energy costs = 0 DKK.
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M.M. Andersen and M. Molin
energy efficiency issues but also the wellbeing of the people living in the house.
So Velfac together with Velux seeks to show that it is possible to build a house
that lives up to the standards of future energy efficient housing without compromising on light and indoor climate. Though still on the drawing table, the project
aims to show that it is possible to live up to the energy standards of tomorrow with
40 percent windows in the house.
This has though demanded innovations on the system level of the house, where
they are working with an active heat/ventilation system. Included in this cooperation is another VKR company called Window Master that develops computer systems to control the opening and closing of windows. To this system has also been
added different sunscreens and shutters that close in front of the window during the
night. Sunscreens both help to control the solar heat of the house, but also reduce
the airflow around the house, thus reducing heat loss. Also the shutters fulfill two
functions in the system: first, they keep more of the heat inside the house during the
night, and second, they reduce the problem of condensation on the windows.
Overall, the project illustrates a shift in competition from the window to the
system level (the house). Velfac and Velux seek to launch an “active house” concept building on the principles of energy, comfort and aesthetics as a contrast to
the passiv house concept. Strategically they are seeking to form a market standard
thatfits their own products better. Traditionally product manufacturers in the construction industry has not taken a great interest in the role as system integrator
[18]. However with this project Velfac and Velux is changing their role in the
value chain where they now play a more active role as systems integrator which is
related to a greater interest into systemic innovation.
3 Green Nanoinnovation in the Danish Window Industry
In this section we will shortly illustrate the main nanorelated innovation activities
of the involved companies. Generally, nano innovation activities are as yet limited but with an increasing interest. Velux is more active involved than Velfac and
Rationel (Dovista). Dovista handles the R&D for Velfac and Rationel, while Velux has its own R&D department.
3.1 Velux
Velux, as a producer of roof windows which are difficult to clean, naturally has a
strong interest into self-cleaning windows. Their sun tunnel has “easy to clean”
coating, which is a TiO2 coating, as standard in some countries3. In some countries you can also get the “easy to clean” coating as optional choice on all Velux
windows. It is, however, not a standard on all windows because the discussion on
TiO2 and its health and environmental effects still has not settled on any definite
3
See http://www.velux.dk/Produkter/Lystunnel/
Product/Hovedkomponenter/Main_components.htm
http://www.velux.co.nz/products/SunTunnels/Products/
FlexibleSunTunnel/default.htm
Eco-innovation Strategies in the Construction Sector
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conclusion. At the start Velux used Saint Gobains’ self-cleaning glass bioclean
(www.selfcleaningglass.com) but they considered that the layer of TiO2 was too
thick which affected the view through the glass. Now they have “easy to clean”
which is a glass they have developed together with an American company. Velux
persistently look for other solutions to the self-cleaning effect on windows and
they test different products that reach the market. They have for example tested
hydrophobic surfaces (the so called “lotus effect”, see www.lotus-effekt.de), but
without any promising results. The structures get clogged after a while reducing
the lotus effect. There are other ways of solving the self-cleaning effect.4
The other parts of a window where Velux has an interest into nanoinnovations
are wood, metal and plastic. Here the different areas have their own explicit focus.
Although wood is one of the best materials to use in a window, because of longevity
and its structural specifications, to improve it by different treatments (paint and impregnation) has always been a focus. Metal is a significant environmental focus area
because of the use of Chrome VI to extend the longevity of ironworks. Most industries have been obligated to phase out Chrome VI but the construction industry has
been given an extended time frame because of the longevity requirement of building
materials. Plastic is not a main focus today, but Velux expects this to change relatively soon because of the improvements in bio-composites and bio-plastics.
As part of their general technological and environmental strategies Velux participated in NanoPaint (www.nanopaint.dk)5; a project that aims to find different
nanotechnological solutions for wood, plastic and metal protection. Velux has had
some promising results with a new anti-fungus treatment of wood, but they still
need to develop a process to get it into the wood. One possible solution to this is
another company in the VKR group called Superwood (www.superwood.dk). Superwood is also interesting in itself since they use supercritical conditions to impregnate wood. This method does not use any heavy metals in the impregnation
process, which thus has some very nice environmental advantages. Other participants of NanoPaint work with sol-gel to create a Teflon surface on metals. This
can also have an effect on the windows industry, since a solution can present an
alternative to the usage of Chrome VI in the ironwork of the window frames.
Other nanorelated issues considered are new glazing’s that will improve the energy efficiency of windows, new impregnation materials and processes and the integration of solar cells with windows.
3.2 Dovista
Dovista (Velfac and Rationel) is so far more hesitant on nanotechnology, but they
are scanning their suppliers for new advanced solutions to old problems. These include nano solutions but there is no targeted search into nanotech innovations.
One such nanorelated area is for example paint, but they have not yet found any
4 See Parkin and Palgrave, 2005, Journal of Materials Chemistry, vol 15, pp 1689-1695.,
http://www.toto.co.jp/hydro_e/index.htm, and
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/6789906.html.
5 Participants of NanoPaint where Velux, Dyrup, Danish Technological institute, SP
Group, Ciba, and Aarhus University.
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nanotech application that improves the factors of paint they are interested in. Another area has been researching in the use of thin film solar cells to generate aesthetic effects and energy saving solution in houses, in part related to the above
mentioned project “bolig for livet” (houses for life). Velfac and Rationel have not
used any self-cleaning classes in their products, the reason being that they believe
their (vertical) windows can be easily cleaned anyway.
An interesting new development is Velfac’s attempt to develop better, more
energy efficient window panes with the help of composite materials. The first
product that has reached the market is a window pane where a profile in composite
material separates the aluminium from the wood. This design lowers a windows
U-value by 0,1 to 0,2. Hither too energy innovations in the pane have been neglected among Danish producers where the emphasis has been on the energy performance on the glass only. But the rising use of aluminum in window panes, for
longevity and design reasons, remains a problem with regard to thermal bridges.
Velfac’s activities may be seen as a reaction to increasing competition from
new players. Composite materials, also nanobased, are starting more generally to
enter the windows industry. In Denmark it was, however, an upstart company, Pro
Tec windows (www.protecwindows.com), who succedeed in developing the first
composite window in Denmark at a tiem when the incumbeont cmpanies showed
little interest. Together with the leading composite material producer of Denmark,
Fiberline, they developed a window frame where composite materials replace the
use of aluminum displaying a high energy efficiency compared to traditional window panes. It is likely that composite materials will continue to play a rising role
in window production as more emphasis is being placed on the energy performance of the entire window and not only the glass fraction.
4 Conclusions
A combination an intensified demand for climate solutions, energy policies that
are open towards new solutions together with the emergence of new advanced solutions including nanotechnologies, are invoking a new innovation potential and a
reframing of strategies among the Danish window industry. Specifically we identify a strategic shift among the major players towards more systemic innovations
that places the window as a part of the wider energy system of the house. The
window companies new roles as system integrators is likely to lead to more systemic and radical innovations, a trend that isn’t driven by but could be reinforced
by the new nanotech opportunities. Clearly, eco-innovation strategies function as
catalysts for nanotech solutions which so far only play a limited but rising role
amongst Danish window producers.
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