Summary of "Mød forskerne! Med Lin Engholm Kjerulf"

Summary of “Mød forskerne! Med Lin Engholm Kjerulf”

This video features Lin Engholm Kjerulf presenting her industrial PhD research on sustainability in construction tendering processes from an entrepreneur’s perspective. The session is hosted by a value-building industry community focused on sharing knowledge and developing best practices in construction.

Main Ideas and Concepts

Value Building Community Introduction

A collaborative industry network aiming to develop and share knowledge on construction processes.
Provides free guides, publications, workshops, and events for practitioners and researchers.
Emphasizes practitioner involvement and dissemination of research findings.

Context and Motivation for the PhD Project

Lin’s project ran from January 2021 to March 2024, in collaboration with Enemærke & Petersen (a large Danish construction company) and Aalborg University.
Supported by innovation funds and part of a network of industrial PhD projects on sustainable construction.
The construction industry faces increasing demands for environmental sustainability in tenders, shifting from price-only criteria to including qualitative sustainability criteria.
Construction is a major polluter, generating significant waste and facing new regulations (e.g., CO2 requirements, sustainability certifications like DGNB).

Challenges in Sustainable Tendering

Sustainability adds complexity to procurement due to immature markets, uncertain technologies, and subjective qualitative assessments.
Traditional tendering struggles to incorporate sustainability effectively; collaborative and relational contracts may better support sustainability goals.
Contractors must develop strategic approaches and resource allocation to meet sustainability demands.

Research Questions

How has the shift toward including environmental sustainability advanced and influenced bidding processes?
What are the market mechanisms for setting sustainability requirements?
How are sustainability requirements co-created during the tender process?
What organizational challenges do contractors face in responding to sustainability criteria?

Methodology and Data Sources

Analysis of 151 tender offers from Enemærke & Petersen (2021–2022).
Interviews with developers, tender recipients, and management.
Observation of tender meetings and review of tender documents (references, value packages).
Focus on different project types: new constructions, renovations, and strategic partnerships.

Key Findings

Market for Sustainability

Three trends in sustainability requirements: economization, instrumentalization, and specialization.
Economization: Sustainability often seen as an added economic cost but also as a long-term investment for some developers.
Instrumentalization: Certifications (especially DGNB) are widely used to reduce uncertainty but can become symbolic without real impact.
Specialization: Developers seek expertise and tools to mitigate risks and comply with legislation.

Tender Practices

Tender documents structure market transactions and influence customer decisions.
References serve as strategic tools for qualification and market positioning.
Sustainability often accounts for about 30% of award criteria in tenders studied.
Co-creation of sustainability values occurs through negotiation between tenderers and customers, balancing innovation and risk.

Organizational Implications

Strategic partnerships and early involvement facilitate better sustainability integration.
Enemærke & Petersen invests in broad DGNB training for employees across roles.
Organizational alignment between offer calculation and business development enhances communication and sustainability storytelling.
Challenges remain in balancing sustainability investments across diverse market segments and geographic locations.

Conclusions

Sustainability initiatives often involve trade-offs with economic objectives.
Certification schemes reduce uncertainty but may create dependency on established frameworks.
Tender and offer processes are crucial platforms for co-creating sustainability goals early.
Customer evaluations depend on bidders’ abilities to interpret explicit and implicit sustainability priorities.
Strategic contract forms support long-term sustainability goals better than traditional tendering.
Sustainability requires interdisciplinary skills and organizational commitment.

Methodology / Instructions Highlighted

Analyze tender documents including references and value packages to understand sustainability criteria.
Conduct interviews with developers and tender recipients to capture market perspectives.
Observe tender meetings to study negotiation and co-creation of sustainability values.
Track tender statistics to quantify prevalence of sustainability award criteria.
Invest in training across organizational roles to embed sustainability knowledge.
Use strategic partnerships and early contractor involvement to improve sustainability outcomes.
Balance qualitative and quantitative sustainability requirements carefully to avoid “hot air” or mere writing exercises.
Maintain dialogue with market actors before and during tendering to better understand and specify sustainability needs.

Speakers / Sources Featured

Lin Engholm Kjerulf – PhD researcher presenting her industrial PhD project on sustainability in construction tenders, affiliated with Enemærke & Petersen and Aalborg University.
Host / Moderator – Representative from the Value Building community, facilitating the session and Q&A.
Dorota – Participant who asked about the limitations of requiring retrospective references in tenders.
Jan Andreassen – Participant commenting on developers’ willingness to pay for sustainability.
Anne Klitgaard – Previous guest interested in sustainability certification and education in construction.
Mark Petersen – Participant asking about differences between public and private developers’ approaches to sustainability.

This video provides valuable insights into how sustainability is increasingly integrated into construction tendering, the challenges faced by contractors and developers, and the evolving market and organizational practices to meet environmental goals.