OnderzoekGroene Chemie

Anne-Marie Spierings: “Biobased is the future”

“Biobased is the future”. These are the words of Anne-Marie Spierings, deputy for Energy, Circular Economy and Environment of the province of North Brabant. Together with a delegation of the province and Avans University she was a guest at the lectureship Biobased Building.

Repost and translation: www.brabant.nl

The importance and developments of Biobased Construction are central. Researchers, teachers and students show her what they are doing and explain what the impact of the applied research is on society and on the region.

According to Willem Böttger, lecturer and head of the knowledge network, there are many different reasons to work with bio-based construction, such as reducing the CO2 footprint. For example, 50% of the total CO2 emissions of a building are emitted in the construction phase. In addition, scarcity of earth materials, energy and materials are inextricably linked. The goal of the professorship is to help small and medium-sized enterprises with biobased innovations by carrying out research projects together with them.

In the backyard

Among other things, the company visited the large ‘backyard’ of the Avans location in Den Bosch, where various biobased buildings can be seen. Built by students, with the cooperation of local businesses and again as part of research projects, there is, for example, a Biobased Reflection House and the CBCI unit. These are places where bio-based building materials have been applied and where it is measured how they behave under the influence of weathering.

The backyard, or Fieldlab, will be further developed in the coming years. A path will be made and there will be open and covered settings with height differences. Students can then stay there together or alone and lessons can even be given. Willem Böttger’s professorship is not alone in this. The business community is participating, but other universities of applied sciences and intermediate vocational education are also involved. In this way, the possibilities are illuminated from all sides.

Experiencing for yourself

In the laboratories and workshops, the delegate will experience how students and researchers work on various applications, such as biocomposites and mycelium. All materials can be touched and felt, which is really different from reading about them online. Spierings: “This is the kind of research we need. It is not only theoretical, but is also immediately applied in practice. This is how we change the world.

More information: www.coebbe.nl