Colleagues with a mission:
Jonas van der Ham, project leader at NMD Foundation
During his master at TU Delft and Wageningen University, Jonas van der Ham researched the environmental impact of biobased insulation materials versus conventional insulation materials. His search for data sources brought him, among others, to the National Environmental Database. That sparked his interest in the work of NMD Foundation, after which he sent an open application. Now for almost a year he has been project leader for various projects at St. NMD, such as improving and strengthening our database. “Not everything is going perfectly yet, but there is an enormous drive. I am proud of the milestones we are achieving with our team, promoting the NMD system and the circular construction economy."
What is it like to work at the National Environmental Database Foundation? And who work at St. NMD? In a series of interviews, through conversations with colleagues, we tell you more about our work, our organization and what we are working hard for together: sustainable construction.
I like the compexity and diversity of my work best
Project leader Jonas says it went pretty fast: “Two weeks after I emailed St. NMD with my open application, I received an invitation for an interview. That very same afternoon I received an offer; I started the following week.”
More data on biobased materials
“I first did a Bachelor's in Computer Science, and then a Master's in Metropolitan Analysis, Design & Engineering, where I applied my knowledge to LCA data. What I learned during those studies now comes together nicely in my role at St. NMD. Now I'm working on getting more data in on biobased materials, among other things.”
Improving data quality
“In addition, at St. NMD we are constantly improving the completeness and quality of the data, also because of the tightening of the MPG. A nice milestone is updating B&U category 3 data based on the 19 environmental impact categories from EN15804+A2. This was a big job, and I helped manage that project.”
“What's also involved in that are questions about the system: how do you go from counting with 11 indicators to counting with 19 indicators? When does that requirement take effect and how does that work in the transition period? We have a lot of contact with parties like the Ministry of VRO and Rijkswaterstaat about that.”
Complex datasets, constantly changing playing field
It is one of the things that appealed so much to Jonas about working at St. NMD, he says: that position at the intersection of policy and construction practice while working with complex data issues in a constantly changing playing field.
“If you consider that we're talking about 19 indicators, about 14 life stages of a building, you're already talking about more than 250 data points for one environmental statement. And so there are thousands of environmental statements. On top of that, the calculation at the building level is complicated. Construction is diverse in both B&U and GWW. A bridge is something completely different from an office building or a swimming pool. On top of that, the field in which we operate is complex and hugely evolving, both in the Netherlands and in Europe.”
Everything is interrelated
“I like the complexity and diversity of my work at St. NMD best. It is challenging and everything is interrelated. We have an important role as St. NMD and I feel that responsibility. After all, data quality has great influence and there is an interesting mathematical and technical basis under it, which affects policy choices and sustainability.”
Take, for example, the computational rules around reuse. “In my research, I have also seen the impact of recycling and reuse. A product that can be better reused may emit more during production but can last longer. How this should be valued is a policy choice.”
Small team, big drive
Jonas thinks that perhaps not everyone realizes that the St. NMD team is only 20 people in size. “We are enormously driven and each and every one of us intrinsically motivated to make the Netherlands and construction further sustainable. And of course we all get the criticism we sometimes get. We are also open to that. Our team has grown considerably in recent years and we see that reflected in the results.”
Moving with developments
Wishes and goals are still plenty, Jonas says. “We are working hard to continuously expand and optimize the database for the Netherlands. We are also closely following European developments. I am curious about the influence of policies coming from Europe.”