Open pilot houses and info market for the H4.0E Flemish pilot
The Province of Flemish Brabant and pilot partner, Kamp C, organised a visiting day for the Belgian regional stakeholders, having invited professionals, social housing companies and local authorities. On the 20th of May 2021, the Belgian regional stakeholders were invited to visit the Housing 4.0 Energy pilot location in Huldenberg, a former campsite where six small-scale pilot houses demonstrate the production of small-scale, modular, one- and two-bedroom houses – with a low CO2 footprint and reduced energy consumption at a lower cost than the current market price.
After visiting the three different house types, participants were invited to visit the outdoor information booths and inform themselves on design, building process, materials and technical equipment involved in implementing the pilot homes. A Housing 4.0 Energy booth informed the stakeholders on the project goals, upscaling and monitoring and provided information on the other H4.0E pilot regions. The event was followed by a press conference.
The event was targeted towards professional stakeholders in the housing industry and received around 90 participants. Taking into account the Covid-19 regulations for outdoor events, a limited number of attendees could sign up for one-hour time slots to visit. After the tour, they could have a look at the info market. Most of the attendees were representatives of municipalities and intermunicipal partnerships on housing, social housing companies and social letting agencies, members of the Flemish Society for Social Housing, construction companies and architects.
The small-scale pilot houses demonstrate the production of modular one- and two-bedroom houses with a low CO2 footprint and energy consumption at a lower cost than the current market price. Participants visited two different types of small units (43m² and one bedroom) and one of the larger two-bedroom type houses (63m²). Before the visit started in small groups of five people, participants were given a detailed introduction on the design & build choices made in order to achieve project goals of CO2 reduction and affordability. Kamp C also pointed out the differences between the three units.
The info market addressed three main topics:
Design, building system, building process, materials (BAST architects; Inhout nv, building contractor)
Technical equipment choices by VOLTA, the producers of the infrared heating panels (Raio) and electrical accumulation heating (ThermoComfort; Bao-Living, contractor)
Housing 4.0 Energy: the parametric design for upscaling through the open source digital platform, what the project expects regarding the monitoring of the energy performance and the ambitions in the other pilot regions in North-West Europe (Province of Flemish Brabant, Lead Partner of Housing 4.0 energy)
The press conference was opened by the deputies of the province of Flemish Brabant and the province of Antwerp. The manager of the social housing company, DeZonnige Kempen, known for its innovative social housing projects, pointed out the opportunities of this building concept in the social housing sector. The press had the opportunity to visit the units after an introduction by Kamp C.
