Housing 4.0E Conference Comes to a Close
The Housing 4.0E conference was hosted in late May 2021. This conference joined the Floriade Expo in Almere, Netherlands. This was a fitting setting for the event given the theme of the Floriade Expo being ‘Growing Green Cities’. It featured guest speakers from our partner organisations as well as industry experts and shared insights the pilots have yielded thus far. The conference was set up to inspire attendees and highlight the accomplishments of the project thus far. It featured keynote speakers, debates, and practical workshops.
The event was opened by Ank Bijleveld (NL), Mayor of Almere, and hosted by Natasja van den Berg (NL), an expert in citizen participation and sustainability. The keynote speakers included (click for presentations):
- Jan Rotmans (NL): Professor of Transition Studies and Sustainability at Erasmus University Rotterdam – “The Urgency of Innovation”
- Ivar Diekerhof (NL): Supervisor H4.0E WikiHouse pilot Almere presented the Results of the Project and the H4.0E Guidebook
- Joke Dufourmont (BE): An expert on Circularity in Urban Regions at the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions – “The Challenges of Scaling-up Innovation for a circular and biobased-building industry”
- Florian Thoma (AT): Director of Thoma Holz100 – “Healthy building without compromise: How to go on now and innovate the building industry?”
- Alastair Parvin (UK): CEO at Open Systems Lab and co-inventor of WikiHouse presented a Preview of the H4.0E Digital Platform
- Rob HAANS (NL): Chairman of the Board of Housing Association De Alliantie – “From pilots to a new building industry: The obstacles that prevent upscaling and how to remove them”
- Alexandra Hamilton (IE): Chair of the Association of Irish Energy Agencies – “Changes that are urgently needed in the construction sector and government attitude to it”
The two debates held across the two-day conference covered; “What are the major lessons learned with the pilots and what needs to be done with it?” and “How to Scale-up and Innovate in the Building Industry”. These debates were a mixture of H4.0E ambassadors, partners, and stakeholders.
The Floriade Expo is a world horticultural exhibition that takes place in the Netherlands once a decade. This iteration is taking place in Almere and runs from 14th April 2022 to 9th October 2022. The theme for the expo this year is ‘Growing Green Cities’ in collaboration with national and international participants at the Expo. Floriade’s theme Growing Green Cities presents the creative, green, sustainable solutions required to make this a reality. This theme is more important than ever as by 2050, some 68% of the global population will live in cities on a mere 2% of the earth’s surface area.
Some Highlights From The Conference
“Enter the arena” and “Keep your head in the clouds and your feet on the ground” were some of the calls to action that were made by Jan Rotmans at the H40E conference.
Presentation of The Guidebook by Ivar Diekerhof.
Joke Dufourmont shows the advantages and processes of building homes from sustainably grown timber.
“Being an Ambassador is about Connection” Marion Jammet, Chris Troniseck, and Nathan Van der Bossche take part in the Ambassadors Debate. The debate discussed the major lessons learned with the pilots and what needs to be done with it?”
Ralf Kampe leads one of the breakout rooms during the conference where he presented the Low Carbon Fabric First Approach.
Alastair Parvin from Open Systems Lab opens day 2 of the Conference. Alastair i presented the Platform in development as part of the H4.0E project which will allow individuals to design their own NZEB and ZEB houses.
Debate between H4.0E partners, ambassadors, and stakeholders on ‘How to Scale-up and Innovate in the Building Industry’.
“Scale, speed, quality, affordability, and low energy – How do we do it?” Ireland needs 30,000 houses in 5 years. 3cea senior engineer and Chair of Association Irish Energy Agencies, Alexandra Hamilton, discusses how do we get there while keeping emissions low and quality high.
Architect and Irish TV producer, Duncan Stewart closes the Housing 4.0E Conference recapping some of the lessons from the speakers and having a discussion with attendees.
