The Net-Zero Future project is an international initiative to accelerate the global transition to a sustainable and net-zero carbon built environment. The project establishes a long-term alliance dedicated to research, education, and outreach activities, bringing together five leading academic institutions: Oslo Metropolitan University (OsloMet – Norway), Technical University of Darmstadt (TUD – Germany), Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK – India), University of Cape Town (UCT – South Africa), and Iowa State University (ISU – USA). Together with public and industry partners, these institutions work to develop, test, and implement the materials, technologies, and methods needed for net-zero buildings and infrastructure.
Results achieved so far
Since the start of the project in 2024, several key milestones have been reached:
• The first Net-Zero Future Conference was held in Oslo in June 2024, with more than 250 international participants from academia, industry, and policy. The conference included keynote lectures from leading experts, panel discussions, and more than 200 oral and 20 poster presentations. More than 160 full-text scientific papers have been published in Springer Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, providing international visibility and lasting scientific impact.
• The project launched the Net-Zero Future School, held for the first time in Norway in 2024. It gathered 30 national and international PhD and master’s students, who received training in sustainable construction methods, net-zero materials, circular economy strategies, and digital technologies. The school provided a strong capacity-building foundation and encouraged future collaboration among young researchers.
• New research collaborations and exchanges have been initiated among the partner institutions, focusing on sustainable building materials, carbon capture in cement production, robotics and digitalization in construction, and advanced monitoring technologies for infrastructure.
Planned activities
Looking ahead, the alliance will continue to deliver annual high-impact activities:
• The second Net-Zero Future Conference and School will occur in Cape Town, South Africa, in November 2025, further strengthening collaboration and exploring regional challenges and opportunities.
• Future conferences and schools are planned for Germany (2026), the United States (2027), and India (2028), ensuring global reach and long-term continuity.
• An open-access PhD course is under development to provide accessible, high-quality education in sustainable construction and net-zero technologies.
Long-term impact
The Net-Zero Future alliance is creating a platform to advance science and practice in the built environment by combining complementary expertise, institutional strengths, and international perspectives. The activities directly support Norway’s Panorama Strategy (2021–2027) for international collaboration and contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, including climate action, sustainable cities and communities, industry and innovation, quality education, and global partnerships.
The project is expected to have a long-lasting impact by:
• Generating new knowledge and solutions for reducing emissions from the construction sector.
• Training and inspiring the next generation of researchers and professionals.
• Strengthening collaboration between academia, industry, and policymakers.
• Highlighting regional approaches while building a strong global alliance for net-zero construction.
Ultimately, the Net-Zero Future project will transform how buildings and infrastructure are designed, constructed, and maintained, delivering sustainable benefits for society and the environment for years to come.
The proposed project aims at establishing the very first international alliance for creating research and educational exchange opportunities with a focus on net-zero structures. With an overarching goal of moving toward minimizing the carbon footprint of the built environment, this project will lead to a well-grounded, credible, and innovative alliance in line with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. The planned activities will effectively engage Norway and four priority countries, i.e., Germany, India, South Africa, and the USA, following the Panorama Strategy (2021–2027). Such a multi-country alliance is deemed crucial for the decarbonization of the built environment, as the bodies of knowledge and experience in the emerging domain of net-zero structures significantly vary from one region to another, while common needs and questions call for seamless international collaborations and exchanges. With a theme of net-zero structures, the proposed project will directly contribute to increasing the extent and enhancing the quality and relevance of academic cooperation among five academic institutions. This will be further strengthened by engaging several public and industry partners who work on the development, production, and implementation of net-zero materials and technologies. The proposed project is anticipated to have tangible short- and long-term benefits, addressing the gaps identified in two clusters of ongoing projects at OsloMet. The main activities planned for the five-year duration of this project span the development and organization of an annual international conference, an annual summer school, an open-access Ph.D. course, and research and educational exchange visits. This will be accompanied by a regular progress assessment and risk mitigation plan, ensuring that the research and educational activities that will be initiated, fostered, and established through this project will be successfully continued beyond the project’s duration.
