Construction Sights: July

30 Jul 2022

It is summer, the outdoor cafés are filling up and the first half of 2022 is already over. Time flies and before you know it, the construction holiday period is upon us. Sunny or not, news and developments in the industry continue. For example, the newspapers are full of news about new flex housing, circularity is a hot topic, and many new (international) students are looking for housing for the upcoming academic year, which is not an expedient process. You can read all about it in a brand new July edition of Construction Sights.

Construction of flex housing comes with challenges
The government wants 15,000 flex homes to be built annually. However, according to the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL), the construction of these homes in the Netherlands is not progressing very smoothly, writes the NOS. Currently, projects are often delayed due to lack of staff, lack of investors and the quest for the right construction site. Meanwhile, flex housing is a quick and sustainable escape route in the current housing crisis. That is why it is imperative that the Cabinet come up with solutions to the challenges in building flex housing, because we are ready and so is the market.

Circular building materials
The Dutch construction industry is booming. But in terms of sustainability, there are still major steps to take. A new report by Circle Economy shows that only 8 percent of used building materials are currently circular, as seen on Architectuur.nl. Although 88% of construction material is recycled, valuable construction waste is used in this process for low-grade purposes, such as road foundations. Only 8% of the material actually gets reused in a high-value application. The figures show that there is still much room for improvement in the construction industry. At Daiwa House Modular Europe, this is a top priority. We do everything we can to be sustainable, circular and clean in our construction operations as much as possible, reusing as much material as possible. This commitment is now bearing fruit. For example, in the month of July we proudly achieved Step 5 of CO2 Performance Ladder.

Students without a room
The housing crisis in the Netherlands is affecting everyone, including (international) students. In fact, the problem is now so serious that universities are urging international students not to come here if they have not yet found housing, as repported in Het Parool. The number of international students continues to increase every year, while the number of suitable housing units for this target group does not grow at nearly the same rate. According to knowledge platform Kences, the student housing deficit increased by 20 percent last year and this increase will only continue on its up-curve in the coming years. That is why we are currently constructing several student housing facilities in the Netherlands. These include the construction of 333 student housing units at Leerpark in Dordrecht, and we recently signed the contractor agreement for the construction of 78 semi-permanent housing units in Eindhoven for national and international students.