24 homes Heerenveen. "Sustainable homes of proven quality"

On Azaleastraat and Geraniumstraat in Heerenveen, housing corporation Accolade has had 24 low-energy, social housing units built. The starting point was that the homes would be affordable and sustainable. The choice fell on the industrialized homes from Fijn Wonen. The type is single-story with a roof. The homes are suitable for one- and two-person households. The contract for the 24 homes Heerenveen’ project was awarded in 2023 and allhomes hev now been completed.

The 24 homes built in the Bloemenbuurt neighborhood of Heerenveen-Noord come from Van Wijnen's housing factory and are from the residential product Fijn Wonen. The industrialized production process is an innovative one. However, the image of the homes is indistinguishable from traditionally built homes: high quality and lots of variety.

The MPG calculation reports that the floors and walls are concrete and the exterior frames are plastic. The houses have a good environmental performance. Jitske Manders-Roepke and Thom Damsma, both working at Fijn Wonen, explain. Manager Jitske Manders-Roepke deals with the connection between the digital production process and the quality, safety and sustainability of the homes. Thom Damsma is sustainability and environment coordinator.

Building homes with traditional materials with a low MPG. How do you do that?

Jitske: “The MPG score is the result of a carefully designed sustainable product and the associated production process. Because of the conditioned production method, structural elements can be made leaner than in a traditional building process. We can deliver an equivalent quality product with fewer materials. In addition, for example, the finish of the floor elements is of such quality that we do not need a screed.

The contract for the construction of the homes in Heerenveen was awarded in 2023 and by now the residents have received the keys. What were your experiences?

Thom: “The process went well. Housing corporation Accolade knows our product. After obtaining the environmental permit, it was possible to quickly start the production and realization of the homes. The realized homes fit well into the atmosphere of the neighborhood. The speed of the construction process is clearly related to the digitized and industrialized production process.”

The artist impression of the homes does not show PV panels, even though they have been realized. Why were the PV panels installed?

Thom: “Installing the PV panels in Heerenveen, and actually in almost all of our homes, is not necessary from the BENG calculation. The energetic characteristics of the homes come from thoughtful choices we made during product development. The heat pump has a high COP value and homes are particularly well insulated. Then it is an option to put them on anyway. From the point of view of sustainability, energy savings and burden reduction, among others, housing corporation Accolade has chosen this option.”

How does the innovation continue?

Thom: “Van Wijnen's goal is to reduce CO2 emissions. This is why we are constantly working in our own concrete laboratory to reduce the CO2 emissions of our concrete mix. In order to have good insight into where we stand, we have had LCAs drawn up for three concrete products; floor element, house separation wall element and façade element. These have now been included in the NMD.

Jitske: “Van Wijnen's sustainability objectives are in line with the European directives and the Fijn Wonen product is adjusted accordingly where necessary. As a provider of a product/living concept, we need timely clarity regarding the development of laws and regulations and determination methods such as the MPG and MPG-2. Due to the high degree of industrialization and digitization of our product and process, we need sufficient time to implement product changes in our platform. A varying policy of tightening and delaying does not help in this regard.

Currently, between 600 and 700 homes per year come out of the housing factory, and those volumes will continue to be scaled up in the near future. We are convinced that the process of digitizing construction that we have initiated will contribute to solving the housing shortage in the Netherlands in a sustainable and affordable way.”