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Under the heading “You’ll Have a Day Tomorrow,” the challenging market situation was high on the agenda at the Norwegian Wood Cluster’s owners’ meeting on April 28. Geopolitical uncertainty, higher shipping costs, higher raw material prices, and high interest rates are causing the construction industry to struggle. Nevertheless, the focus was on the future, with hopes for better times and increased demand for wood construction.

Is your company planning to develop new technology, products, or services? The Research Council of Norway supports innovation projects in the business sector (IPN) and has now announced funding for 2026.

- "The board is very pleased that Ona Flindall has agreed to become the new cluster leader in Norwegian Wood Cluster. She has expertise and experience from the wood construction industry that will help strengthen the cluster's development in the years to come," says chairman Jan Tore Meren. "Not least, she is enthusiastic about the opportunities we have as an industry.

A look at bygg.no shows that the construction industry is looking for new expertise. Surveys point to a critical shortage of key personnel in the future and the number of job advertisements is also high, despite a period of reduced activity in the industry. NTNU Gjøvik is now offering a flexible Master's degree in Building Informatics and Timber Structures.

The government is proposing new climate requirements in the Building Code Regulations (TEK17). Since 2022, there has been a requirement to carry out greenhouse gas calculations for apartment blocks and commercial buildings. Now the requirements are being extended to include larger single-family house projects and more building components - and maximum limits for greenhouse gas emissions per square meter are being introduced.