Co-Creation Centre @The Green Village starts next phase
With a festive and inspiring breakfast meeting at The Green Village on 27 June, the next phase of the development and realization of the Co-Creation Centre has started. Scientists, business and government gathered to celebrate the results achieved so far, to share the planning for the next phase and to call for action in regard to the organization and further development of the Co-Creation Centre. Everything in co-creation of course, with the aim of integrating as many sustainable innovations as possible into what will become the place for research, co-creation and inspiration, in the heart of The Green Village, the living lab for sustainable innovations at TU Delft campus.

Co-Creation Centre: the place for research, co-creation and inspiration
After a long and intensive preparation period, the realization of the Co-Creation Centre (CCC) has recently started. The Co-Creation Centre at The Green Village is the place where research, co-creation and inspiration come together. The individual research and innovation projects are challenging enough in their own preparation and implementation. The aim is to have these individual elements integrated early next year into a functioning building, where researchers, entrepreneurs, governments and the public can come together and work on the transition towards a sustainable society.

Trust and joint ambition as a basis for co-creation
The construction of the foundation piles with heat exchange function (Energy piles) and the circular concrete used in the substructure (Circuton) have now been carried out. After the summer, a start will be made with the superstructure and then with the installation of the climate tower. “In complex projects like this, where we work in co-creation on truly innovative solutions, trust, flexibility and joint ambition form the basis for collaboration,” said Hubert Linssen, Manager Building & Realization at The Green Village and project leader of the Co-Creation Centre-project.

Foundation piles with integrated heat exchange function
The research and project leaders presented their results and plans during various short pitches. Phil Vardon, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Civil Engineering at TU Delft and scientific project leader of the EnergyPile, explained how a small idea for one stand-alone EnergyPile has grown, in close collaboration with Fundex, into an executable project with an EnergyPile grid. By testing and monitoring, among other things, for several years, research can be done into the both operation and performance of the EnergyPiles, in relation to the energy performance in the building and the effects of the building’s load on the EnergyPiles.

Circular building material used in the substructure
Niek Ridderbos, Director of Innovation at VolkerWessels and partner of X! Delft, the collaboration between TU Delft and business, is proud of the results achieved with Circuton. Circuton is a new circular building material that uses recycled concrete and has been developed by C2Ca, a TU Delft startup together with GBN Strukton. “A year and a half ago, we wanted to change the way we handle our raw materials with a group of innovative parties in the construction industry. Circuton is a very interesting material that has now been used for the first time here in “real life”, in a real environment, in a real building. This provides valuable lessons and insights and at the same time raises many questions about the business value and integration into regulations. All of this is therefore part of the further innovation and upscaling process. ”

Glass-supported construction as the basis for the superstructure
The construction of the superstructure of the Co-Creation Centre will start in September. “We have been working for a long time on highly innovative but working solutions for the glass facade and supporting structure,” says Diana de Krom of engineering firm ABT. Together with professor Rob Nijsse, professor of Structural Engineering at TU Delft, and Wout Hoogendoorn, director at Si-X, various options have been investigated. “In such a process you want an optimum between the latest innovations, working structures, costs and aesthetics. As an engineer, this is a continuous challenge. Then it is important that you go through such a process in good cooperation based on trust and openness. And Mecanoo is also happy with the chosen solution.”

Climate tower with dynamic control system
Simultaneously with the development of the glass superstructure, the research of the Converge consortium has started. The consortium consists of scientists from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at TU Delft under the supervision of Professor Bart de Schutter, professor of Systems & Control and market parties, including Priva, Hunter Douglas and Van Dorp Installaties. Bert van Dorp: “At Van Dorp subsidiary Orange Climate, we want to be the leading organization in the field of innovative, sustainable solutions for indoor climate. For the climate tower at the Co-Creation Centre, we will, together with other companies and researchers, look at the application of PCM, phase-changing materials, to make and keep the glass building comfortable. Even at temperatures like today. ”

Co-creation process and system integration
The Delft architectural firm Mecanoo is responsible for the integration of the various innovation projects. Armand Paardekooper: “In contrast to normal projects, this co-creation process does not exactly have everything fixed in advance. And that makes it interesting and challenging for us. Regularly, even now, there are good in-depth discussions about fitting in more new innovations and elements. With our subsidiary MecLab, we want to continue contributing to the further development and realization of the Co-Creation Centre ”.

From theory to practice
All research and innovation projects will be translated from preliminary and final design to an implementation plan and planning in the upcoming period. During the breakfast meeting, the agreement was signed with Kroon & De Koning, part of the VolkerWessels Group. “There is still so much to innovate and learn in construction,” said Ivo Zweekhorst, director at Kroon & De Koning. “As a medium-sized construction company, it is important to be aware of the latest developments. This special project gives us the opportunity to be directly involved with our own people in high-tech innovations from TU Delft and other involved companies. ”

Modular design allows new innovations
The design of the Co-creation Center takes into account the possibility of placing new innovations onto or into the building. One of the possibilities is an entrance building that serves as a test bed for circular or energy-producing façade systems. Or new innovations in the field of floor or light systems. These connections were also made during the networking part of the event. After all, the Co-Creation Centre is, and will always be, the place to research, co-create and inspire.

Interested in the possibilities for your organization to participate in the Co-Creation Centre project? Contact The Green Village, Hubert Linssen, Manager Building & Realisation manager or Serge Santoo, Manager Marketing, Communication & Co-creation.