News

Together with building managers, Ingenium is taking up the challenge to make buildings carbon neutral by 2050. Besides the strict requirements imposed by Europe and the Flemish Government, important additional incentives are the long-term depreciation in value if no action is taken and the sharply increased energy prices that are already driving up facility costs.

On 29/03, the Inspiration Map Heat was launched by the VVSG: Ingenium collaborated on this map, as a member of the WarmteWerkt consortium. With the help of this website, each Flemish municipal or city council can quickly view the heat demand, now and after renovation, and the energetic potential of individual and collective heat solutions for a desired sub-area, as part of the local energy transition.

The growing number of electric vehicles in Belgium raises questions about fire safety in parking lots. The "Rule of Good Workmanship - Fire Safety" from vzw Fireforum already anticipates a new RD and is a good guide to take preventive measures.

The Belgian Construction Awards, organized by bouwkroniek, aims to highlight and reward the craftsmanship of the construction industry. With the BIMVISIBLE APP, we achieved a great second place in the Innovation Process/IT category.

On Feb. 21, the Bruges City Council approved the 2030 Climate Plan. Ingenium was part of the Panel of Experts that calculated what the city needs to be climate neutral by 2050.

The Schouwburg in Kortrijk is an important cultural hotspot, which is now undergoing a thorough renovation. Important architectural points of attention in the renovation and conversion are: accessibility, a new theater, sustainability and creativity with attention to heritage value.

Ghent University's faculty of political and social sciences recently moved into the Technicum, located in Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat between the UFO and the student restaurant De Brug.

Flanders imposes a renovation requirement for all non-residential buildings with a new owner as of Jan. 1, 2022. Large non-residential buildings must also use at least 5 percent renewable energy within the five years of purchase starting Jan. 1, 2023.

In recent years it has regularly surfaced in our media: water is becoming a scarce commodity. There are various sustainable alternatives to save on expensive drinking water. The projects De Nieuwe Dokken in Ghent and Hof Van Saeys in Dendermonde are textbook examples of what is possible in this area.

Technical operation: how to manage it more clearly? The operation of a building constitutes a major cost item from its completion. Expenses are mainly replacement investments, optimizations around comfort, energy efficiency and compliance with environmental requirements, including a gradual transition to CO2 neutrality. Efficient investment and cost management requires all-round data-based technical management of operations.

Europe wants to be emission-free by 2050. Since the existing building stock is responsible for 36 percent of those emissions, that is where the key lies. Therefore, the EU mandates a smart building management system for medium- and large-scale buildings by 2025. Next steps may include SMART certificates and a Campus or Site Management System, where buildings exchange energy needs and surpluses.

In the "Carousel Agriculture" project, the laboratories and offices of the KU Leuven Agricultural Institute are being redesigned. This with a renewal of all techniques.

Like Ingenium, many of our customers are currently developing large-scale charging infrastructure for their current, as well as future, electric vehicle fleets.

To be carbon-neutral by 2050, the Green Deal wants Europe to emit a net 55 percent less CO2 than in 1990 by 2030. Building heating plays an important role in this. A heat zoning map per municipality or area - now "inspiration map" - is a first step in preparing for the transition. For concrete policy, however, a heat policy plan is needed. What are the focal points in this? What role does psychology play in this story? And what is the link with mobility?

COP 26 in Glasgow will hopefully bring the attention of world leaders back to the gigantic challenge posed by climate transition. As a European organization, with top engineering companies in each country, the FIRST Q network definitely wants to do its part in making the building stock more sustainable, responsible for 40% of global CO2 emissions.

With the partnership DEVI, 4 experienced West Flemish players in the construction sector are joining forces to be stronger in large industrial (refurbishment) construction projects of Belgian and foreign clients. "Our clients are technical people. So are we. So there is quick mutual understanding," Frederik Moortgat (Establis) and Bart Verplancke (Industrium) tell us.

The building with its imposing former dactylo hall is now a place where art academies can flourish. Together with WIT architects, we succeeded in integrating modern techniques in a subtle, invisible way, thus preserving the authenticity of the monument.

In all buildings where multiple people congregate - such as offices, schools, meeting and event spaces - healthy air quality is even higher on the agenda due to the corona pandemic. Are CO2 meters and air purifiers the solution to acute problems? And what about the long term?

TTAS theater construction has been part of the Ingenium Group for over two years now. High time to highlight an exciting project: the renewal of the flywall at the Ancienne Belgique in Brussels. Most theaters make every effort to make their theatrical installations as invisible as possible to the public. That is why they are most often done in black. Ancienne Belgique, however, likes to put them - literally! - in paint. RAL3003 (ruby red) and RAL3017 (pale red) to be exact.

Ingenium is collaborating with VITO and Jorn Verbeeck (as expert team) and with the various departments involved of the City of Bruges in drawing up a 2030 climate plan for Bruges.

Ingenium is helping the city government of Mechelen develop a heat strategy. With this, the city wants to be one of the forerunners in Flanders to initiate the heat transition. With a clear vision and a concrete action plan, the Mechelen building patrimony must be heated and cooled fossil-free by 2050. Therefore, Ingenium is making a series of heat-related maps for the entire territory of the city. These include the current and future heat demand, the existing heat supply in the city and an estimate of the renovation potential. Using these policy maps as a basis, we draw up heat zoning plans: a road map in which we propose concrete solutions to make each specific subarea of the city fossil-free in steps. For example, we examine where the application of a heat network could be interesting and where not.

Cybersecurity has been high on the agenda in recent years, especially among companies and organizations. At the IT level, the leaks have usually already been plugged, but when it comes to OT infrastructure, the risks are still too often underestimated. However, the continuity of business processes and the protection of personal information are crucial. A cybersecurity audit can reveal the areas for improvement. Over the last 10 years, in the field of cybersecurity in buildings, much attention has been paid to the pure IT infrastructure such as computers and printers. However, OT - operational technology - is still too often treated as a stepmother. However, the use of cameras, access control, fire detection and building management systems for cooling and heating that are connected to the network, among others, has increased dramatically. This makes OT infrastructure vulnerable to misuse. A lot of building managers or users are unaware of the potential risks of poor OT protection. For example, access control software contains personal data subject to the GDPR. A poorly secured camera system allows hackers to look around your building. It not only violates the privacy of those who walk around in it, but can also lead to physical break-ins and theft. Hacking the cooling or heating systems can cause a production facility to shut down. And these are just a few examples. Action is taken not only at the technical level but also at the organizational level. This is done according to the principle of Organizational Physical Electronic Notification Measures (OFEM). That OFEM principle can be applied in both the physical and virtual world.

For the Hoost residential project in Knokke-Heist, Ingenium is responsible for the design of the techniques. The building will be fossil-free, all heating and cooling will be produced via a BTES and heat pumps. The project, based on a global concept by French architect Jakob MacFarlane, is being realized together with B2Ai architects and CAAAP -Artes Group. It will be an unprecedented colorful architectural construction in Belgium, apartments with terraces are mixed with houses with gardens in height. On the lower floors, public parts (municipal administration, police, ...) find their place. © CAAAP

Our director innovation & sustainability Pedro Pattijn attended the IBPSA congress BS2021 in Bruges. There he gave a presentation on 'Heat mapping & district heating simulation tool'.

In the building of the future, smart handling of energy becomes of prime importance. Not only for economic and ecological reasons, but also for practical considerations. After all, the breakthrough of electric cars and smart grids brings with it enormous challenges. Especially in a world where calls for comfort and efficiency are becoming louder and louder. Yet building managers and facility managers do not face an impossible task. With the intelligence that may be inherent in larger buildings by then, they have an important tool at their disposal to fight this battle.