The hurricane in northwestern Norway on New Year's Day 1992 caused damages to buildings in the order of NOK 1.3 billion. In the winter of 1999-2000, heavy loads of snow on roofs throughout Northern Norway caused several large buildings to collapse. Eastern and Southern Norway experienced heavy rainfall over long periods last autumn, causing damage to buildings that were previously unscathed. Although these unique weather events cannot, of course, be ascribed to global climate change, they are a clear reminder of how vulnerable we are to large fluctuations in climate and extreme weather.

Studies carried out at the Norwegian Building Research Institute (NBI) have shown that the costs of repairing damages to structures in Norway are estimated to be about 5% of the annual investment costs for new construction. With today's rate of production, this corresponds to about NOK 4 billion. NBI has been documenting building damage for almost 50 years. More than three-quarters of all building damages registered have resulted from water and moisture. In recent years, the negative effect of wet materials on the quality of indoor air and the resulting health problems have become more evident. Traditionally, systematic evaluation of steps to prevent water and moisture damage has attracted little attention in the construction industry. Issues of water and moisture damage have been addressed simply as one of many problematic elements in the construction process, and are often underestimated or neglected. Tighter budgets and higher demands for progress and quality, in combination with large amounts of precipitation during the construction period, have also been shown to be difficult to reconcile.

• built environment
• climate change, global warming
• country: Europe : Norwegian
• green building project : Climate 2000 ¨C Building construction in a more severe climate, 14 projects by 2005
• moisture damages and problems for buildings : More than three-quarters of all building damages registered due to water and moisture
• weather, climates : will change due to global climate

1. Learning from experience -- An analysis of process induced building defects in Norway