Driving building technology - Domica

The sustainable building in use

When we speak to people in the real estate sector about sustainable buildings, they tend to focus first on the design and construction phase. They also look at the building materials and so on in order to achieve those wellbeing or sustainability certifications.

What obviously also has an impact is when a building is brought into operation. At that point, it becomes particularly important to use the materials and technologies that have been selected in a smart way and to use them intelligently throughout the lifetime of a building.

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Pieter Kindt
Managing Director I Domica
 

What gets measured, gets managed

We are an industrial laundry group. We consist of three industrial laundries. We process 120 tonnes per week. Through a full-service model,  we mainly serve hotels, restaurants, wellness facilities, a mat rental business, and we also do a very small amount of aviation. Hotels are often part of international chains. These are the chains that have a need for ESG reporting. 

We ourselves are very strongly focused on sustainability, and our main resources are water, gas and electricity. These are also the resources that cost the most. We try to make improvements in those areas that are visible. For water, we do this through RFID-chipped linen and optimised volume badges, For electricity, we use solar panels, and for gas, we work extensively with measuring and try to replace gas consumption with electricity.

Sustainable process, sustainabe progress

We are one hundred per cent convinced that the biggest cost lies in the things you do not see. Before our collaboration with Domica, our biggest challenge was gaining better insight into our consumption. We needed to get our peak consumption under control. Our water treatment installation was put in place because of the enormous water bills we were receiving here in Zedelgem. At that point, we decided to install water treatment, and we can now reuse up to 80% of our water.

Through Domica, we can really monitor those measurements and see whether we are achieving our objectives. Domica also tells us when a machine could potentially be heading towards failure, allowing us to anticipate earlier and avoid significant costs. The measurements from Domica have also shown that we can make use of new technologies, including heat pumps. We are currently carrying out extensive research to determine whether we can roll these out and whether it is economically feasible to do so.

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Reinhard De Muynck
CEO/CFO I Laundry Solutions
 

Engine for sustainable progress

The monthly energy reporting that we carry out for Laundry Solutions contributes to taking the complexity out of energy-related issues. These can be small actions that we recommend in order to carry out optimisations. However, the data can also be used to assess investments or to support future investments by building a business case based on consumption data. You do not need to start very big. You can also start on a smaller scale.

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Gilles Franck
CTO I Domica
 

The impact of in-use 

At Domica, we are convinced that technology is indeed a driver for the future of sustainable buildings. It bridges the gap between real estate, new-build projects, retrofit projects, European regulations and sustainability objectives. The smart use of these technologies is extremely important.

We also see the Belgium Green Building Council building a network in which true specialists come together and, above all, promote sustainable development. When we look at the buildings of the future, the technological intelligence of a building and its performance will certainly contribute to that.

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Pieter Kindt
Managing Director I Domica