Mari Blokhus Nordtun

– “We are now addressing both students who are about to choose a master’s program and people who are working and want a refresher,” says Thomas Haavi, associate professor and responsible for the new master’s program in building informatics and wood structures at NTNU Gjøvik.

Combine work and study

The program is initially a 2-year full-time program, but it is possible to get a customized study plan over several years. Communication with students takes place via a digital platform, where lectures, assignments and other relevant information are posted. Many of the lectures are also video recorded. In some courses, there may be mandatory requirements that require physical attendance on certain days, such as in connection with lab exercises.

Admission requirements

You must have a bachelor’s degree in engineering with at least 25 credits in mathematics, 5 credits in statistics and 7.5 credits in physics, or equivalent education. The program is suitable for all engineers with an interest in construction.

Job opportunities

The construction industry is one of Norway’s largest industries, where there is a great need for digital expertise and an increasing focus on sustainable, circular solutions. You can work in architectural offices, in consulting engineering companies and with contractors. Common tasks include project management, design, construction and operation and maintenance of buildings.

More about the program and how to apply for admission

Video with relevant information about the program: Study program NTNU

You apply for admission here: https://www.ntnu.no/studier/mibit/opptak

Contact person at NWC: Knut Amund Skatvedt

The consultation proposal has been prepared by the Norwegian Building Authority (DIBK) and proposes changes to the Building Code Regulations (TEK17). The consultation deadline is May 5, 2026.

What is new in the consultation proposal?

1. Several building types are subject to greenhouse gas accounting requirements

In 2022, a requirement was introduced to prepare greenhouse gas accounts for apartment blocks and commercial buildings. The requirement is now being extended to apply to larger single-family house projects over 1,000 m² of usable floor space (e.g. larger terraced house or field developments).

2. More building components must be included in greenhouse gas accounts

Today’s regulations have a relatively limited scope of building components. The consultation proposal expands this to cover the most emission-intensive parts of the building, including foundations and ground structures. The greenhouse gas inventory must include at least:

• Support system (slabs, columns, beams and load-bearing walls)
• Exterior walls, floor partitions and roofs
• Foundations and ground structures

Technical installations (HVAC and electrical) are currently not included.

3. Limit values are measured for the entire building

The limit values for greenhouse gas emissions must be measured in kg CO₂ equivalents per m² gross floor area (GFA). There are no requirements for specific types of material, and it is the overall emission level that determines whether the building meets the requirement, not the level of the individual building elements.

4. The emissions must be documented in a completion certificate

The proposal sets clearer requirements for how the limit values should be documented:

• A greenhouse gas account shall be prepared based on a recognized method (life cycle analysis).
• The documentation must be part of the measure’s documentation in the building case
• The carbon footprint shall:
  • Available at completion certificate
  • Could be presented at inspection
  • Handed over to the building owner

Reporting does not take place to a central national database, but is part of the municipality’s ordinary building case processing. Responsibility follows other responsibility rules in the Planning and Building Act, with clearer expectations for designers and builders.

What does the proposal for climate requirements in TEK mean for the construction industry?

For building product manufacturers, the climate requirements will mean that documented low climate footprints (EPDs) and the lifespan of materials will be given increased value. While clients and contractors will have greater responsibility for the choice of materials, waste and processes.

Initially, the proposed climate requirements are not very ambitious – but will help the “worst in class” to lift themselves up to a minimum level. There is also an alternative proposal for 10% stricter climate requirements, which many believe is a more sensible starting point. In any case, we must believe that the proposal marks the start of a gradual tightening of climate requirements in the construction sector.

The Norwegian Wood Cluster is organizing a team meeting for its members on 27 March, in collaboration with Treindustrien. At this meeting, we will provide further information about the consultation proposal and discuss a joint statement from the cluster – also regarding the handling of biogenic carbon.

What do the organizations say about the consultation proposal?

NHO The construction industry

“When the focus is shifted from individual requirements to actual climate results, we can clean up a fragmented regulatory framework and remove requirements that result in high costs and little effect,” says Guro Hauge, Director of Business Policy at NHO Byggenæringen.

Read the full post from NHO Byggenæringen

Building products industry

“The construction projects that will find it difficult to meet the requirements are probably those that are primarily based on imported building materials. If you use Norwegian-produced building materials, you are reasonably confident of meeting this moderate level of requirements,” says Trine Dyrstad Pettersen, Technical Manager in the building materials industry.

Read the full post from Byggevareindustrien

The wood industry

“It’s time we had requirements that contribute to actual climate improvements, and not just documentation. The most important investment has already been made in that manufacturers have prepared environmental documentation in the form of EPDs for their products. Now it’s about giving value to these investments,” says Heidi Finstad, CEO of Treindustrien.

Read the full post from Treindustrien

Contractors’ Association for Building and Construction

“We also believe that the requirements for limit values are at a reasonable level that makes it predictable and justifiable within technical solutions, but we will be clear that we do not want requirements that are phased in faster than the EU will do,” says Audun Blegen, CEO of Entreprenørforeningen Bygg og Anlegg (EBA).

Read the full post from EBA

Want to understand more about the background to climate requirements in TEK?

Here you can read about Opprop om klimakrav i TEK which was started by Grønn Byggallianse, Futurebuilt and Skift in 2025 and has been signed by 288 companies. As well as Investigation of climate requirements in TEK, the report from the investigation that Asplan Viak did on behalf of DiBK, to look at a possible climate requirement in TEK17 and how the requirement can be designed.

At present, there is no legal requirement for manufacturers to produce environmental product declarations (EPDs), but more and more developers are requesting EPDs in order to document the total environmental impact of the materials in a building.

The life cycle assessment is the foundation

Before an EPD can be created, a life cycle analysis (LCA) is needed that explains the environmental impact of the product throughout its entire life cycle, from the raw materials entering the factory, to production and transportation to the customer, use and disposal at the end of the life cycle. The aim is for the product’s “life cycle” to have the lowest possible environmental impact, and to be able to see where in the life cycle it pays to make changes. For most manufacturers of wood products, the raw material and production phases (A1-A3) of a product’s life cycle offer the greatest opportunity to influence its environmental impact.

The life cycle assessment forms the basis for the figures to be included in the environmental declarations/EPDs.

The environmental declaration follows the product

The process of creating environmental declarations/EPDs for products is often carried out in collaboration with a third party that has the necessary data tools. In a typical process in collaboration with Treteknisk, you will start with a start-up meeting to plan the data collection. Then both the company and Treteknisk will go through a process of collecting data and feeding it into a demo version. After a few rounds of quality assurance of the data, the environmental declaration/EPD can finally be finalized. Treteknisk assists with the verification at EPD Norway, and then the EPD is ready for use.

The data collection

So what product and factory data is being requested? It could be, for example, shed yield, energy use and transportation distances for purchased materials and raw materials. This is data that the manufacturer has control over. It’s important to ask yourself whether you can use data that has been collected in other contexts, so that you can reuse figures from the financial system or logistics system, for example, instead of performing calculations from scratch.

You also need generic data, i.e. industry data that does not come from your own production. For a sawmill, this could, for example, apply to data on emissions from forestry or timber truck transport (but transport distance is entered specifically, including return loads).

Environmental documentation and the market of the future

It has been announced that there will be digital product passports through the EU system, so that this data can be found digitally. Work is underway to simplify the EU’s Construction Products Regulation, so we can also expect the processes for developing EPDs to become simpler in the future.

Arkitekt Christian Fredrik Morgenstierne, som også er daglig leder og partner i TUNR AS, forteller at selskapet har som formål å drive rådgivningstjenester innenfor praktisk, strategisk rådgivning og konseptutvikling innen bolig- og stedsutvikling samt arkitekttjenester. Bedriften har forretningsadresse Oslo.

– Som byggherrerådgiver bistår vi eiendomsbesittere, utviklere og kommuner. Tjenestene spenner fra mulighetsstudier og reguleringsplaner til rammesøknader, prosjektledelse og juridisk rådgivning, forteller Christian Fredrik Morgenstierne.

– Vi mener økt bruk av tre er avgjørende for å nå fremtidens bærekraftsmål innen eiendomsutvikling, og vi ønsker å bidra aktivt til denne omstillingen. Gjennom medlemskap i Norwegian Wood Cluster ønsker TUNR å være del av et faglig sterkt nettverk som jobber systematisk for å utvikle, dokumentere og fremme trebaserte løsninger i bygg- og eiendomssektoren, sier Christian Fredrik Morgenstierne.

Han leder et nystartet selskap som ønsker å bidra til at flere aktører ser de økonomiske, miljømessige og kvalitative fordelene ved økt bruk av tre, både i bolig- og områdeutvikling. TUNR jobber med prosjekter der helse, fellesskap og bærekraft er sentrale verdier.

– Vi håper å kunne bidra til å omsette klyngens kunnskap og innovasjon til realistiske, gjennomførbare og salgbare prosjekter i markedet. Sammen med øvrige medlemmer i Norwegian Wood Cluster ønsker vi å utvikle økonomisk og teknisk gode løsninger som senker terskelen for å velge tre i fremtidige byggeprosjekter. Vi mener det er viktig at også aktører på utviklersiden er representert i klyngen, og vi ser medlemskapet som en naturlig og strategisk forlengelse av TUNR sitt arbeid og verdigrunnlag, sier Morgenstierne.

CEO and partner Christian Fredrik Morgenstierne is the founder of the company TUNR AS.

Utvider kompetanse og nettverk i NWC

Klyngeleder Berit Sanness ønsker TUNR AS velkommen som nytt medlem i Norwegian Wood Cluster. Hun peker på at det har stor verdi for klyngen å komplettere medlemsmassen ved å få inn en aktør som er byggherrerådgiver og samarbeidspartner for utviklere og offentlige aktører.

– Med TUNR som medlem får vi utvilsomt inn ny innsikt og nettverk i Norwegian Wood Cluster, så vi ser fram til å bli bedre kjent med bedriften, sier Sanness.

Formelt er det styret i Norwegian Wood Cluster SA som behandler søknad om medlemskap i klyngen. TUNR AS ble tatt opp som medlem den 12. februar 2026.

Forum Wood Building Nordic is the Nordic edition of Forum Wood Building, the world’s most important conference for timber structures. “The fact that the event is now coming to Norway provides a rare opportunity to be close to both customers and the market at home.

April 16-17 builders, consultants, architects, contractors and suppliers gather for two days of heavy professional expertise, good conversations and strong networking arenas – at Oslo Congress Center/Folkets Hus. Norwegian Wood Cluster is a proud co-organizer of the conference. You are also invited to a Pre-tour Wednesday, April 15 , with visits to innovative and exciting construction projects in the Oslo area.

For our member companies this is a unique opportunity to:

• meet existing and potential customers in a professional and informal setting
• use the conference as a framework for customer meetings and follow-up
• position your business in a rapidly developing market

The program with plenty of breaks, lunch in the middle of the exhibition area and an atmospheric conference dinner on Thursday evening – all designed for relationship building.

Exclusive member prices for Norwegian Wood Cluster (when booking by March 15, 2026):

• Sponsor: 15% discount
• Exhibitor: 15% discount
• Participant: 30% off

If you belong to one of our member companies, you can sign up as a participant with a 30% discount.

Registration deadline March 19

Does your company want to to take advantage of the opportunity as a sponsor or exhibitor? Contact persons:

Tobias Schauerte in Forum Wood Building Nordic

Mari Blokhus Nordtun in Norwegian Wood Cluster

The Norwegian Wood Cluster brings together leading industrial, technology and forest-based companies that are working together to develop the sustainable wooden building solutions of the future.

Will you take the baton?

– Our cluster leader will retire in 2026, and we are now looking for her successor. We are looking for a relationship-driven leader who is strategically strong and wants to further develop a growing cluster,” says chairman Jan Tore Meren.

As cluster leader, you will have overall responsibility for leading and further developing the Norwegian Wood Cluster. “As our figurehead, you will work closely with senior managers, professionals, researchers, authorities and innovation actors, and you will help ensure that our members benefit from the cluster collaboration,” says Meren.

The workplace is Mjøsbrygga in Brumunddal and the position offers a high degree of freedom and the opportunity to drive forward projects that are important both regionally and nationally.

Application deadline for the position is January 25.

Do you have any questions about the position?

Please contact Chairman of the Board Jan Tore Meren at jt@meren.no or Tel 905 92 622.

The following webinars are currently scheduled:

Tuesday, January 13 8.30-9.30: AI-assisted camera surveillance (Taigatech)

Tuesday, February 10, 8.30-9.30: Using AI for insights in the ERP database

Tuesday, March 10 8.30-9.30: AI for product development and design (Norconsult)

Responsible: Knut Amund Skatvedt, knut.amund.skatvedt@nwcluster.no

You can find the webinars in our event calendar.

In 2025, the EU adjusted the level of ambition for sustainability reporting by extending the deadlines and reducing the requirements. – This has made it even more relevant for many companies to create a simple sustainability report based on the Voluntary Reporting Standard for SMEs (VSME),” says Sanness.

On the agenda since 2022

She explains that sustainability reporting has been on the agenda in the Norwegian Wood Cluster since 2022. – “There has been a great willingness to share at the many workshops we have organized, and the feedback has been that this has been very valuable for the companies. The cluster also developed its own sustainability reporting guide for the forestry and wood industry to provide an overview and make it easier for companies to retrieve relevant key figures,” says Sanness.

– However, the status is that few of the SMEs in our cluster have so far taken on the task of creating their own sustainability report. The situation is the same among the SMEs in Sweden that are from our sector,” says Sanness. She is now promoting a course in simple sustainability reporting with SMEs as the target group.

Norwegian-Swedish course offerings

The Interreg project “Circular Bioeconomy Arena” focuses on SMEs and now invites you to a course in simple sustainability reporting for SMEs. The course will be held at Mjøstårnet on March 11-12, 2026. By participating in the course, you get:

• A complete VSME report that meets the EU voluntary sustainability standard
• Peace of mind ahead of future sustainability requirements from customers and stakeholders
• Increased competitiveness by meeting the demands of larger players and tenders
• Ability to meet larger companies’ needs for sustainability data from suppliers
• Improved internal management of sustainability issues in your own company
• Offer of a mentoring session after the course

The course instructors are advisor Ida Marie H. Guldbrandsen and advisor Vegard Grønnerud at Klosser Innovation. Both have an industrial education and broad experience from various businesses, including in the field of sustainability. They will assist both during the implementation of the course itself and as mentors afterwards.

With interdisciplinary expertise from architecture, civil engineering and construction, the start-up fits very well into the Norwegian Wood Cluster. Heimvaag AS is located in Ullensaker.

Nytt byggeprodukt basert på returtre

Det nyetablerte selskapet har en helhetlig forståelse av prosessene som knytter idé, design og byggbarhet sammen, og bruker arkitektur som en helhetlig tilnærming for å forvalte våre omgivelser og ressurser på en ansvarlig måte. Heimvaag AS har utviklet et byggeprodukt som kan utnytte urasjonelt trevirke og returtre, og løsningen er nå godt på vei i patenteringsprosessen med gode tilbakemeldinger.

Nå sikter bedriften på å bidra inn i konkrete innovasjonsprosjekter, som støtter klyngens mål om økt ressursutnyttelse og bærekraft.

– Vi ser store synergier mellom vår produktutvikling og klyngens fokus på teknologi, kompetanse og samarbeid. Derfor kommer vi å være en aktiv deltaker i erfaringsutveksling, utviklingsprosjekter og faglige fora som fremmer verdiskaping i treindustrien, sier Espen Heimdal. Han mener deltakelse i Norwegian Wood Cluster vil gi verdifulle nettverksmuligheter og tilgang til kompetanse på tvers av fagområder, fra råvareproduksjon til ferdige bygg.

– Nylig deltok jeg på klyngens workshop på Mjøstårnet for å identifisere nye sirkulære piloter basert på økt utnyttelse av trevirke som ressurs. En veldig interessant dag hvor hele verdikjeden var representert, der jeg nettopp erfarte nytten av klyngen som koplingsboks og kompetansebygger, sier Espen Heimdal, som mener mange av utfordringer som må løses, krever samarbeid.

– Større valgmuligheter innenfor byggeprodukter av returtre er kun en del av den større omstillingen for hele verdikjeden, og det er nettopp her Norwegian Wood Cluster er posisjonert for solide fremskritt, sier Heimdal.

Spennende oppstartsbedrift

Klyngeleder Berit Sanness ønsker Heimvaag velkommen som nytt medlem i Norwegian Wood Cluster.

– Det er kjærkomment å få inn en oppstartsbedrift som bringer nye ideer og løsninger inn i verdikjeden vår. Vi ser derfor fram til å bli bedre kjent med Heimvaag, sier Sanness.

Formelt er det styret i Norwegian Wood Cluster SA som behandler søknad om medlemskap i klyngen. Heimvaag AS ble tatt opp som medlem den 4. november 2025.

The new offer is session-based, and the physical sessions are held at Gjøvik. The aim of the training is to provide participants with the necessary skills to pass the theory exam in the subjects PRT3103 (production technology) and LOG3103 (logistics) in the fall of 2026, and later take the professional exam.

Who can participate?

To apply, you must have:

• Minimum 1 year of relevant experience
• Documented primary school and valid residence permit
• Apply for upper secondary education / prior learning assessment via www.vigo.no

For the logistics profession, you must also pass safety training for forklift classes T1, T2 and T4.

Teaching method and plan

The training is session-based with physical meetings and some digital sessions. The sessions are mainly conducted Fridays 09-14 . The first session on January 9 will focus on HSE. This will be followed by topics such as production planning, process management, quality, maintenance, hydraulics, pneumatics and electronics. In the fall of 2026, the focus will be on exam preparation. In the autumn semester, it is possible to participate in some elective courses in timber organized by the Norwegian Institute of Wood Technology.

The teacher is Jørn Thore Morønning, who has extensive experience from transport, logistics and the wood industry.

This is a unique opportunity for employees in the wood industry to strengthen their skills and secure a trade certificate – an investment in both their own career and the company’s future.

Contact persons:

NWC: Knut Amund Skatvedt, knut.amund.skatvedt@treteknisk.no

Career Innlandet Gjøvik: Servicetorg tlf. 91007631, e-mail ki.gjovik@innlandetfylke.no