Zuyd University of Applied Sciences and Brightlands Chemelot Campus are extending their collaboration. This follows an expansion of their test site for sustainable technologies on the Sittard-Geleen campus.
Scientists are currently testing two sustainable technologies in practice at this demo site: a 'solar road' and 'windows of the future'. The expansion of the site will allow the addition of new test setups. Think of test setups in the field of circular renovation processes. The application of new materials for the built environment is also an important theme.
Important link
Bert Kip, CEO of Brightlands Chemelot Campus, and Luc Verburgh, president of Zuyd University of Applied Sciences, signed the agreement. According to Kip, this expansion fits perfectly with the campus' ambitions: to be a leader in scaling up innovations in sustainability and circularity. "We are proud that yet another party chooses to scale up innovations to become more sustainable - in this case for the built environment." Verburgh also points out the importance of the agreement: "For the acceptance and implementation of the energy transition, thorough testing of new, sustainable energy technologies is essential first. The expansion of the test site is therefore an important link in the transition to a CO2-neutral society. It is positive for the Netherlands and our region with all its companies, students and knowledge organisations."
Sustainable technologies, processes and materials
The test site is right in front of the entrance to the outdoor car park on campus. The tests are led by Zeger Vroon. He is a lecturer in sustainable energy in the built environment at Zuyd and senior scientist at TNO-BMC. The newly added test units cover circular housing renovation processes. There is also a lot of focus on new materials. With these, the housing envelope can be renovated cheaper and faster on the way to an energy-neutral home and built environment. Parties closely involved in the test site are TNO, Brightlands Materials Center and Chemelot Innovation and Learning Labs (CHILL).
DRIVE 0
'DRIVE 0' project, specialists are investigating how to accelerate renovation processes. They are doing this by developing a consumer-oriented, circular renovation process. It makes scaling up renovation environmentally friendly, cost-effective and more attractive to consumers and investors.
The project is built around seven local projects in Europe, including in Limburg. The EU is funding it this project under the EU Horizon 2020 programme.
BRIMM
In BRIMM (Bright Renovation Insulation for Housing Envelope by (Advanced) Materials and Methods), specialists develop new materials and methods. The aim is to renovate the housing envelope cheaper and faster towards an energy-neutral home. The two houses will be used for the set-up in 2023. Testing of a new generation of windows is currently taking place here. BRIMM, which is led by Brightlands Chemelot Campus, involves several parties housed on the campus such as Zuyd, Brightlands Materials Center, Kriya Materials, TNO and Chemelot Innovation and Learning LaB bs.
BIPVT
The BIPVT (Building-Integrated Photovoltaic and Thermal systems) project aims to accelerate the large-scale introduction of building-integrated PV and PVT systems. For this, the utilisation of all building surfaces to generate electricity from solar energy is important. However, integrating solar panels into the building envelope offers more advantages. Consider electricity generation close to the user. There is also the possibility of preserving and adding aesthetic building value. Zuyd is working in the BIPVT project on the structural analysis and circularity assessment of current and future BIPV(T) components. The MOOI programme (Mission-driven Research, Development and Innovation) of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency funds BRIMM and BIPVT.
'Solar road' and 'Windows of the Future'
The test site currently hosts two setups to test sustainable technologies. One set-up involves solar cells integrated into the road surface as part of the Rolling Solar project. In the other setup, tests are taking place for the Window of the Future. This is a new generation of windows with special type of window film. This window film should reduce energy consumption in the built environment.
Collaboration
In Rolling Solar project, 32 parties are working together. These parties come from the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. Together, they are pushing for the large-scale generation of solar electricity on the public road infrastructure.
Photo: Luc Verburgh (l.) and Bert Kip (r.) sign the agreement for expansion of the test site for sustainable technologies.
