De technische ruimte wordt een bouwsteen - FHI, Federatie van technologiebranches

Branche

Defence wants to modernize its real estate much faster. The Central Government Real Estate Agency is therefore opting for standardization and industrial construction. Even the technical room is becoming a repeatable building block. For building automation, this raises an interesting question: what actually needs to be standardized to be able to use such a building block time and again?

The scale is substantial. The Central Government Real Estate Agency (RVB) is working on the modernization of approximately 11,000 Defence buildings at more than 300 locations. To maintain sufficient pace, the output of new construction and renovation must be quadrupled. Therefore, the RVB, together with Defence, is opting for standardization and industrial construction.[1]

The basic principle is simple: do not redesign every building. Buildings are composed of recurring elements that can be produced industrially. In this context, the RVB mentions not only office workspaces but explicitly the technical room as a building block. According to the RVB, a technical room in an office must be able to meet the same requirements as a technical room in a workshop.[2]

That might seem primarily like a change in the way buildings are constructed. For building automation, the development goes further.

Don't start over every time

The first major step has already been taken with standardized accommodation buildings. In this approach, the design is developed once and subsequently applied multiple times. Defence describes it as building 'on and off the assembly line'. Various suppliers can use their own construction systems in this process.[3]

At Volkel Air Base, for example, new standard accommodation buildings are being constructed with a total of one hundred single rooms. Components are manufactured in a factory and subsequently assembled at the air base. At the same time, tender processes have been initiated for, among other things, standard training facilities, offices, unit buildings, workshops, and warehouses.[4]

The approach is also visible in Leeuwarden. Under a five-year agreement, Plegt-Vos is building accommodation buildings with a total of approximately one thousand beds at multiple locations. The company produces components in its Smart Home Factory and works with different configurations per location.[5]

When is a technical room standard?

For building automation, a new question arises here. After all, a technical room does not consist solely of pipes, pumps, and installations. The equipment must also be controlled, monitored, and connected to other systems.

If the same technical building block recurs in different buildings, it must therefore be determined what remains the same each time and where space is needed for configuration. Consider, for example, control functions, sensors, data points, alarms, and interfaces with other systems.

Consequently, prefabrication and standardization are not automatically the same. A fully pre-built technical room can still be project-specific. Conversely, standardization does not necessarily mean that every building becomes technically identical.

For suppliers and system integrators, the challenge lies precisely in that dividing line: which functions and interfaces do you define, and which components must remain adaptable to the building, location, and usage?

Building and managing

This standardization is not solely intended to build faster. The RVB explicitly states that working with the same building blocks should enable the smarter design, construction, and management of buildings.[6]

It is precisely the latter that is interesting for building automation. When technical functions and data are configured at different locations according to the same principles, greater repeatability in management and maintenance is created in principle. However, it does require agreements that last longer than a single construction project.

This becomes particularly relevant because various manufacturers and building systems can coexist. The goal, therefore, need not be for every supplier to apply exactly the same technical solution. For the market, it will be particularly interesting to see which performance characteristics and interfaces the RVB ultimately wishes to standardize.

The market is helping to determine the standard

The exact form these standards will take is not fully fixed. The RVB therefore involves market parties prior to tenders via so-called market tables. Topics such as standardization, industrialization, energy, and innovative construction methods are addressed at these tables. Market feedback in previous requests for proposals for the accommodation buildings even led to adjustments to requirements that companies considered too detailed.[7]

During the Standards Market Table in August 2026, the focus was on, among other things, the procurement and contract strategy, pricing, and the alignment between tenders and industrial building systems. The RVB is preparing framework agreements for standardized office and teaching buildings, unit buildings, warehouses, and workshops.[8]

This also presents an opportunity for companies in building technology. For as soon as a technical room is no longer redesigned for every project, part of the technical thinking shifts forward.

The technical room thus becomes not just a room full of installations. It becomes a product that must be capable of being applied, connected, and managed more frequently.

And with that, standardization of steel, pipes, and equipment is just the beginning.