Lisø PhD Dissertation Manuscript - NTNU

LisÖ et al.
business premises. The building sector involves several
actors, including occupants of the buildings (individuals
and families, business, industry and the service
sector), authorities who regulate the built environment,
and the construction industry. Social agency does not
operate in a vacuum: there is a range of factors influencing
and determining what adaptation options are
available to actors in the construction industry. We can
divide these factors into three broad groups: political,
economic and cultural, all of which are interlinked.
Social factors may lead to inequality in building standards,
in the ability to sustain social and psychological
well being in the face of damaged housing, and in the
ability to repair damage after the event. Political and
economic processes also fundamentally affect sensitivity,
in terms of settlement patterns, for example.
Politically, the dialectic between regulation and liberalisation
is also important in the field of climate vulnerability.
A government-appointed official committee
stresses the challenge to the State in maintaining a
proper security level for its citizens in a political environment
increasingly characterised by liberalisation,
market economy and privatisation (NOU, 2000).
Institutions have looser attachments to the State, and
this constrains the measures available to the state to
secure a proper level of disaster preparedness in important
sectors of society.
Economic trends and structures also affect adaptation
options and practices in the construction industry,
both at the demand and the supply sides. It is widely
recognised that a corrupt construction industry,
neglecting bylaws and technical regulations and building
poor-quality structures, was partly responsible for
the disastrous consequences of earthquakes in countries
such as India and Turkey (The Economist,
2001; New York Times, 2001).
The demand for cost efficiency in the construction
industry has in some cases contributed to the reduced
robustness of Norwegian buildings. The hurricane that
occurred in Northwest Norway in 1992 caused
damage to buildings in the range of NOK1.3 billion.
The total extent of the damage, including damage to
building structures, was approximately NOK2 billion.
Wind speeds of 62–63 metres per second were
recorded, the highest wind speeds that have ever been
recorded on mainland Norway. The bulk of the
damage was incurred to roofs and roofing, due primarily
to insufficient anchoring. Most of the damage could
have been avoided had the existing Building
Regulations and Codes of Practice been adhered to
(National Office of Building Technology and
Administration, 1993).
There are a number of ‘intangible’ cultural aspects that
influence vulnerability and adaptation capacity, both
through their influence on construction practices,
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building design and land-use planning, and locational
decisions. People’s preferences and demands for
housing are changing as well as their perceptions of
risk. We now find construction of both residential and
commercial houses in areas that were not previously
developed due to their high exposure to floods, landslides
and avalanches, and the full force of wind gusts.
Well-developed insurance schemes, increased pressure
on land in already densely populated areas, and
increased levels of private wealth may be among the
causes of such risk taking. An additional factor is the
inability to maintain and make use of local traditional
knowledge about local climatic conditions. These
issues deserve further research in order to increase our
understanding of how adaptation may take place.
Adaptation pertinent to the construction industry can
thus refer to; first, reducing sensitivity by making
buildings more resistant to harsh weather and altering
settlement patterns away from risky areas; and second,
strengthening society’s coping capacity. The latter
refers to reducing trauma and economic damages when
buildings or business premises are damaged or increasing
the ability to capitalise from increased temperature
and other climatic changes. While some adaptation
measures can be undertaken by actors within the
industry alone, the importance of addressing the
underlying causes and constraints of both sensitivity
and coping capacity means that these measures must
be supplemented by ones that go far beyond the building
sector.
Government initiatives addressing climate change
adaptation
As mentioned above, no holistic or conscious strategy
or policy for addressing these ‘wider than sector’ issues
exists in Norway. In 1999, the government appointed
an official committee to review Norway’s social vulnerability
and disaster preparedness. The committee
presented its recommendations in July 2000 (NOU,
2000). The report defines natural disasters caused by
extreme weather events, avalanches, storm surges or
landslides as being among the challenges confronting
Norway with regard to safety during normal peacetime.
The report also stated that it was important to
stress knowledge about the increased frequency and
increased consequences of normal natural phenomena
such as extreme weather conditions, floods and landslides,
in which the consequences were made more
severe as a result of pressure on the margins of safety
in the building design process coupled with poor social
and property planning.
Although the Norwegian Pool of Natural Perils
addresses collective security and insurance, no climate
change-related measures exist that target the underlying
causes of sensitivity and coping capacity, or any
of the factors constraining the institutional capacity
to effect adaptation. Factors that deserve attention