Review of the Build and Connect 2020 conference

A real place for discussions on the most promising trends and meetings around the best technologies and practices intended for all stakeholders in sustainable construction, the international Build & Connect conference is co-organized by the Fiber Energivie competitiveness cluster and the University of Strasbourg for several years so that everyone can benefit from the experience of the pioneers of a large region in the heart of Europe between France, Germany, Benelux and Switzerland, the co-organizers being based in Strasbourg.

Round tables and feedback made it possible to bring out issues related to sustainable construction and to think together about common solutions.

Finance the city tomorrow

“Urban renewal and the net zero artificialization of soils is becoming a major subject in the real estate sector. Build & Connect made it possible this year to bring together renowned personalities and unique expertise at European level on the subjects of responsible and innovative real estate investment. The round table brought together Novaxia, Socfim (Groupe BPCE), Bitbond, and Green Soluce. Each of these players is leading the way in their field: real estate investment, banking, crowdfunding, and ESG support for debt funds. What do they have in common? ".
Vincent Aurez, moderator of the round table "Financing the city of the future, new economic models"

During the first round table "Financing the city of the future, new economic models" the objective was to bring around the table banker, actor of crowdfunding and blockchain, and actor of sustainable finance to imagine the financing models in the service of a more sustainable city and an urban renewal beneficial to the greatest number. A key issue in view of the impacts of the real estate sector, which in France represents a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions. A number of questions were thus raised and debated by the various interlocutors such as:

• How to channel investments into responsible funds to make the city evolve towards ecological transition and support new uses?
• What economic and financing models does this imply?

Actors in the financing of real estate and the city of tomorrow, delivered their market convictions through key messages.

For Socfim, the construction sector is the victim of contradictory injunctions imposed on real estate operators and pushing them to innovate:

• The societal desire to create smart cities VS a great reluctance to change.
• The need to extend the building stock without artificialising the soil VS a poorly perceived densification and the health risks it entails.
• The aspiration of the French for more sustainability, standards to limit greenhouse gas emissions but a limited purchasing power of households which does not allow them to access virtuous real estate products in terms of environment.

To these issues, the company offers urban renewal and recycling of existing assets.

Green Soluce, a consulting and support player dedicated to accelerating towards a more sustainable, inclusive and resilient model, is based on ESG criteria:

• Real estate debt funds are starting to change the rules of the game of real estate financing by taking ESG criteria into account (ESG criteria are fundamental to assess the sustainable strategy of companies).
• ESG assessments are based on two key components: the assessment of the borrower (through internal mechanisms and questionnaires, and “green” covenants to combine environmental performance with financial performance) and assessment at the asset level. (with the arrival of European taxonomy and labels, certifications).
• The main lenders apply different ESG underwriting techniques, tailored to borrowers and real estate guarantees. Monitoring ESG key performance indicators offers the possibility of considerably improving risk management techniques.

Building the buildings of tomorrow

"We must intensify the uses of each building, reassure the construction industry and promote the fact that a building is a veritable bank of reversible materials."
Morgan COLOMBERT, moderator of the round table "building the building of tomorrow"

The speakers of this round table worked on different axes:

• Low carbon
• Sobriety
• Efficiency
• Carbon storage

Because the building of tomorrow will undoubtedly have to take into account new technologies and practices that allow it to reduce its carbon footprint. Wood and bio-based materials allow us to have solutions to do better than yesterday, but we still have obstacles to remove in terms of organization, culture, legal and training. The main point of vigilance is indeed the training of construction stakeholders in the management of renewable materials so that existing and future technical capacities are operational.

A new economic model is to be developed so that it is fully adapted to sustainable construction. In this context, it is necessary to recall the role to be played by local authorities as contractors in the construction and projects of the territories.

Review the sessions of the Build and Connect 2020 conference: