Postal address: Department of Built Environment and Energy Technology, Linnaeus University, SE-351 95 Växjö, Sweden
Visiting address: Lückligs plats 1, third floor
Web page: http://lnu.se/research-groups/sustainable-built-environment?l=en
Contact person: Associate Professor Krushna Mahapatra, Senior Lecturer, phone: +(0)470-76 78 13
The education and research at BET deals with various aspects of sustainability of the built environment. The focus is on the social, technical and environmental implication of natural resource use in the built environment and how the negative consequences could be mitigated through innovation and diffusion of efficient renewable-based technologies (both energy and non-energy) and infrastructure. The department conducts cutting-edge research linked to sustainable development, especially system analysis studies of bioenergy, building construction, energy efficiency, forestry and the interaction between these fields, and implementation of innovative solutions. The overall goal of the research is to understand how a sustainable built environment based on resource-efficient systems with low environmental impact can be designed and implemented..
South Asia related activities
Krushna Mahapatra has a PhD in the ecotechnology and environmental science discipline. His main research area is implementation of renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency measures in the built environment. He has broad experience of using survey techniques to investigate attitudes and perceptions towards heating systems, energy efficiency measures and intensive forest management practices in Sweden.
The department has launched a Linnaeus Palme exchange programme with Indian Institute of Management Lucknow (IIML), India. Initial support with SEK 80 000 was provided by the International Programme Office for Education and Training (Internationella Programkontoret) in March 2015, for the period 1 July 2015 – 30 June 2016. More information about the South Asia related Linnaeus Palme projects for 2015-16.
Prof. Shamama Afreen from the Centre for Business Sustainability, IIM Lucknow, visited the depratment in September 2015 in order to explore coming educational exchange possibilities. She held a seminar entitled ”An Overview of Teaching and Research Activities.”
The research issues in focus at BET are also important issues for a developing country like India which is experiencing increased energy and resource use, and social, environmental and economic conflicts are in rise. Considering this, IIML – which is a public autonomous institute of management education and research – has established a Center of Business Sustainability and started a postgraduate education program on Sustainable Management to educate the future managers about sustainability aspects in business. The educational program at BET is focussed on technical aspects of sustainability, while that of IIML focused on management aspects. This provides scope for complementing each other in multidisciplinary subject areas.
At the end of the first year of the project the partners expect to have got an overall picture of each other’s strengths and needs and scope for cooperation. The long-term goal is to create a platform for teacher and student exchange for a strong sustainability education in both institutes. Teachers and students will be benefitted by the international experience of challenges and solutions to sustainability. The contact person on the Indian side is Prof. Sushil Kumar at the Center for Business Sustainability, IIML.