FTI Hasselt

Kunnen we al steden bouwen op de maan? Translated: “Can we already build cities on the moon?”, was a seminar organized by POM Limburg in collaboration with the Province of Limburg, Buildwise, Embuild Limburg and Embuild Flanders, in the PXL building D, 3500 Hasselt, March 19, 2024

As guest of honor was Angelo Vermeulen, a Flemish space researcher, biologist and artist, who was the only European selected by NASA for a four-month simulation of a stay on Mars. He indicated how in the future humans could possibly live among the stars. Afterwards, the seminar mainly focused on the sustainability challenges in the construction sector, partly because cities are becoming increasingly densely populated and the enormous CO2 emissions. How the construction sector is tackling these challenges with, among other things, new materials, smart designs and innovative ways to accelerate the construction process, was explained. The use of new materials, such as facade bricks that absorb CO2 during the production process, grass insulation and insulating with air (aerogel), were proposed to reduce the climate footprint.

Speakers in this section were: Jan Wörm (KU Leuven), Steve De Pooter (Aerobel), Serge Celis (Orbix). Steve of course presented the Carbip project here as it fitted perfectly within the framework of the seminar. Other speakers and attendees were: Dennis Vangeneugden (Kepler), Bart Velleman (Living in Flanders), Charlotte Euben (Buildwise), Véronique Claessens (City of Genk), Marc Dillen (Director-General, Embuild Flanders), Michel Vanderstraeten (Managing Director, Vanderstraeten Group and Chairman Embuild Limburg) and Anke Albregts (Business Advisor Innovation, VLAIO).