SensiParti

Making circular building feasible for individuals

Shared housing use, lifelong living, low-maintenance building, working from home... There are a lot of needs and desires among private builders for circular and change-oriented construction. In practice, however, these concerns often get snowed under throughout the building process. People fall back on familiar conventional techniques and solutions that are qualitative in the short term, but not future-proof or adaptable. 

With SensiParti, Bond Beter Leefmilieu wants to boost the circular construction market for private individuals by starting from their needs. SensiParti is an online and offline platform tailored to the client with concrete information and testimonials on circular building solutions. Using concrete cases, we show how everyday concerns of building owners have already led to more circular solutions. We bring the user's story, show the designer's answer and give concrete examples of technical solutions after their implementation. Through inspiration tours, home visits and peer-to-peer exchange, we show how building owners themselves can get started with circular principles and who can help them.

Bond Beter Leefmilieu

Partners Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Architectonische Ingenieurswetenschappen, Vibe

Sectors

Themes

Organisations

MOST IMPORTANT
RESULTS

  1. We created an accessible database of circular projects: on ecobouwers.be, we collected more than 100 projects with pronounced circular added value. Each project is fully described, both technically and who collaborated on it. 
  2. Through a series of webinars and project visits, we introduce individuals to innovations within circular construction. By helping to spread innovative concepts, we hope to get them into the construction world faster. 
  3. We expand the market of circular construction by highlighting circular strategies. For example, we compiled a brochure that draws attention to concrete and feasible solutions that are easy to apply in practice. 
  4. We also enlarge the market of circular building by stimulating the supply side: by mapping the needs and concerns of private individuals using user story scenarios, we encourage the supply side to scale up in a more targeted way.

MOST IMPORTANT
LESSONS LEARNED

  1. The platform is well received, but its reach is still limited. There is a lot of information available, and many websites. However, individuals find it difficult to see the added value of these various websites. We need to think about the relationship with existing initiatives and the need for integration when scaling up. 
  2. Most private individuals are not yet convinced by flexible building. Although many already apply circular strategies in their homes, these are not recognised as such. This is primarily about material use. Adaptable building is less established. 
  3. User stories and recognisable situations are strong tools to clearly identify the needs of private building owners and to communicate about them. 
  4. Large or integral circular projects are increasingly finding their way into circular construction these days. Smaller or partial projects and interventions are finding it more difficult to find suitable construction partners for implementation and design.
100 projects described
15 strategies outlined
1.500 brochure editions
800 visitors projects

WHAT DOES
THE FUTURE HOLD?

Ecobuilders provides a useful platform to bring circular building into focus among private individuals. The platform had an open character when it was created and we want to keep it that way. 

The database and the platform can be scaled up in the future by expanding them, but also (and especially) by developing relationships with other initiatives, for example on finding building professionals, providing advice, building details, product databases, etc. After all, the intention of the platform is not to offer all the information itself, but to provide targeted referrals and support in finding the necessary information.