Building automation engineers were briefed on sustainability during Bits, Bricks and Behavior

The Bits, Bricks and Behavior conference on Tuesday at the Jaarbeurs responded directly to the most important developments in the building automation market. With a number of strong keynote speakers, an extensive knowledge market and a wide range of lectures, visitors could be fully informed. Sustainability was high on the agenda.

By: Dimitri Reijerman

Piet van Veelen, chairman of the Building Automation branch, opened the BBB program in the Progress room of the Supernova conference center. Bits, Bricks & Behavior was already in its seventh edition. Van Veelen emphasized to the visitors that when tendering, careful consideration must be given to what an investor wants to achieve with it. “There is more than returns,” said the GA chairman.

Diederik Samsom, former chairman of the Built Environment Climate Table and recently chief of cabinet of EU Vice-President Frans Timmermans, delivered the first keynote. Samsom, where FHI talked to earlier, told the audience how the sector can help make the built environment more sustainable. According to Samsom, an important aspect is the district-oriented approach. “Doing things together is contagious,” he said, especially when the neighbor starts making his home more sustainable.

The second keynote came from Ad van Wijk, Professor of Sustainable Energy at Utrecht University & TU Delft. He spoke about the opportunities for hydrogen and the (re)use of existing pipelines and empty gas bubbles to efficiently transport and store hydrogen. According to Van Wijk, hydrogen can also play an important role in the built environment for heating, for example.

Break out sessions

The program then started with breakout sessions in the themes Bits, Bricks and finally Behavior. The topics were closely related to these main themes. For example, under the Behavior track, Bob Seffinga, HeyDay Facility Management, gave a lecture under the title 'Realizing the energy transition without energy loss in co-creation'. Seffinga highlighted, among other things, the close connection between economy, technology, policy and behavior. “Only when these are coordinated is an energy transition possible,” he said.

In the Bricks program, sustainability, perhaps the most important thread during this edition of Bits, Bricks & Behavior, was also discussed in the lecture by Gerard Jansen, who works at RHDHV. He discussed the so-called Fastlane method with which the impact and opportunities of various sustainability measures can be calculated.

Another theme that received attention was security. Including Bas Labordus, who works at The S-Unit, and Dr. Jarno Limnéll from Tosibox discussed the dangers of hackers and the latest developments in the field of cyber security.

Special locations

Dr. Dr. noted that a building design can have a major influence on the behavior and feelings of end users. Mark Mobach from Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen. Together with numerous partners, Mobach thinks about designing special locations and buildings. For example, images of nature are projected in a room with an MRI scanner. This calming effect was found to lower blood pressure in patients, reducing the amount of medication required. Mobach also spoke about projects surrounding palliative care, breastfeeding rooms and schools.

The day ended with a number of lectures on smart buildings. Jan-Willem Beaufort from Vodafone Ziggo outlined how the new office in Utrecht served as the basis for a smart IoT ecosystem with the help of the Internet of Things. The closing words were given by Derk Bots, commercial director at Signify. In words and images, Bots explained how the lighting manufacturer uses new sensors in luminaires to gain new insights and take building automation to a higher level.