The Division of Building Technology brings together knowledge from Building Physics and Building Materials. The building industry represents one of the largest and most important enterprises in the world. Costs associated with housing are the largest expenditure of an average family. One third of the Swedish energy consumption is used in residential and commercial buildings.

Both in Sweden and internationally there is a growing demand for practical, sustainable building designs that will provide a higher standard of living with minimal resource demand.

In Building Physics the building envelope is studied in order to understand its function and condition. Walls, roof and foundations are important components of the building envelope. The fundamental research deals with heat and mass (moisture, air) transfer in buildings and in building components. In Building Materials focus is primarily on cement-based and wood-based building materials and surface coatings on such materials. One major area is a materials science approach to flow properties for liquid, gas, ion and moisture transport in porous materials. Another major area is research on durability and service life of materials in long-term use in various environments.