Towards a new role for building materials manufacturers in construction projects

To meet the expectations of demanding clients, new project-delivery configurations have been developed. Concurrently, the building sector faces increasing demands from building authorities, most recently in the shape of the new requirements to energy performance as implemented in the Danish Building Regulations. Approaches focusing on performance-based building or new procurement processes such as new forms of collaboration between actors in construction projects and the development of integrated solutions are considered solutions that improve the industry’s overall performance. Often building materials manufacturers are perceived, not as part of the construction project, but as suppliers of the construction project and their traditional target groups are architects and consultants. This paper focuses on new types of collaboration between a construction project and building materials manufacturers, where building materials manufacturers are oriented towards clients through direct cooperation, or new types of services aimed at clients. The research investigates the consequences for construction projects and actors. The research is based on qualitative case studies of major manufacturers of building components towards new roles in construction projects. The analysis shows firstly that building materials manufacturers can take on different roles in procurement processes from new ways to collaborate with the client to offering new types of services to the client. Secondly, the analysis shows that building materials manufacturers – in the new role influence the innovation process. Thirdly, the analysis shows that in order to understand the relationship between regulation and innovation in the construction project, and to identify new ways to promote energy innovation in construction, it is not sufficient to examine the project-based companies’ opportunities for innovation, including how they can reclaim the chain, but it is equally important to examine the building materials manufactures' capacity for innovation and how this innovation affects the chain, i.e. a symmetrical analysis.