{"id":24388,"date":"2024-01-14T15:58:02","date_gmt":"2024-01-14T23:58:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/discussing-the-importance-of-human-led-supersensing-with-sofie-pelsmakers\/"},"modified":"2024-01-14T15:58:04","modified_gmt":"2024-01-14T23:58:04","slug":"discussing-the-importance-of-human-led-supersensing-with-sofie-pelsmakers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/discussing-the-importance-of-human-led-supersensing-with-sofie-pelsmakers\/","title":{"rendered":"Discussing the Importance of Human-Led Supersensing with Sofie Pelsmakers"},"content":{"rendered":"

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In the run-up to WDBE 2021, we talked with<\/em>\u00a0Dr. Sofie Pelsmakers, the Associate Professor for Sustainable Architecture and Sustainable Housing Design at\u00a0<\/em>Tampere University<\/em><\/a>. Our conversation covered the importance of implementing human-led sensor technology, the need for continuous research, and the role urban supersensing can play when it comes to sustainability and improving quality of life.<\/em><\/p>\n

Thanks for taking the time to talk with us, Sofie. Could you just tell us a little bit about yourself, your career to date, and what you\u2019re currently working on?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was born in Belgium, and I\u2019m a bit of a particular case because I studied architecture in the mid-90s in Belgium and wasn\u2019t sure, after a few years, if I wanted to be an architect. I met some Erasmus students from the UK and ended up moving to London, working for a bit, and realized the kind of architect I wanted to be.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Belgium was very non-contextual. I felt like I was being trained to just design pretty buildings, for no real reason, for rich people. And coming from a working-class background, I didn\u2019t really fit in and understand that at all. I then ended up leaving traditional practice for good to do more academic work. I ended up doing a sustainability degree, and then teaching [the subject] and becoming a head of sustainability at a pretty large housing practice \u2013 Levitt Bernstein in London. Then I did my Ph.D., and \u2013 of course \u2013 Brexit happened the week before I finished my Ph.D. [laughs]. So, after Brexiting to Finland via Denmark, I\u2019ve been here now two years, and I\u2019ve just got promoted to associate professor at Tampere University. On paper, I lead a sustainability research group, but honestly, it\u2019s more that I have the privilege to represent them. They\u2019re an awesome team of people from all different research areas, with a focus on sustainable housing in particular. So, we cover elements of sustainability, adaptability, and inclusive design. That\u2019s flexible building, using material resources, energy usage, and so forth. It\u2019s an amazing group of young and very clever scholars.<\/p>\n

Is there a difference between public, professional, and academic understandings of sustainability? Is there anything we\u2019re missing?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Generally, when people think about sustainability, it\u2019s \u201cdoing things a little bit better,\u201d which translates to minimizing impact. But one of the big problems we face is that \u2018minimizing impact\u2019 was something that\u00a0would<\/em>\u00a0have helped us mitigate climate change. We haven\u2019t done enough of that minimization at the scale we needed and not deeply enough. We now need gigantic transformation and transition. That\u2019s a different conversation and degree of understanding things. It\u2019s a much more fundamental adjustment. It\u2019s a real shift in a debate in the industry and in academia. Of course, we recently had\u00a0the IPCC report<\/a>, but those working in the field have known this was coming for years. We\u2019ve moved past mitigation and into adaptation alongside mitigation. We have to prepare the built environment for change. For hotter summers. For more flooding. It means preparing for using resources differently. And we as a profession need to adapt to ensure that our buildings and our industry can adapt.<\/p>\n

Obviously \u2013 tracking, measuring, and managing that change is a significant undertaking.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s, of course,\u00a0very<\/em>\u00a0tricky because there\u2019s not any examples that have happened. How do you measure it? It\u2019s here where monitoring changes and digital technologies can help us achieve and validate what we currently\u00a0think<\/em>\u00a0will work in design. It\u2019s also essential to make sure that any changes we make are sufficiently universal. That our buildings can support different people and future generations but don\u2019t fall into the trap of being so universal that people can\u2019t personalize or change it. This is one other interesting future for urban sensing which shows and validates how spaces can and\u00a0should<\/em>\u00a0be used differently in the future.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Could you speak to the role that this sensor technology plays in your work and research at the moment? What is the reality when it comes to delivery?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the moment? There\u2019s a big gap between the idea of sustainable housing development and then what is actually delivered. We call it the performance gap. It can be caused by constructions that didn\u2019t quite make it from the drawing board to reality because of material specifications or weather conditions during construction. Things can go wrong, and our models are not very good at predicting things. Urban sensing can monitor how buildings work in reality. But that also goes for the behavior of people. That\u2019s where sensors can play a major role in the reality of how people use their homes. It\u2019s asking a lot of questions. How is heating being used? What if we track this against humidity? Are windows open at the same time people are heating spaces? What we\u2019re doing is gathering information, and urban supersensing lets us make it easier for people to make the right, informed decisions. For me, what\u2019s important is that we don\u2019t use urban sensing to manage more active systems. Instead these sorts of sensors and smart technologies can really help change people\u2019s behavior or help automate passive measures. Passively cooling spaces by triggering the opening of windows or opening and closing blinds to respond to the presence of sunlight or daylight. There is a danger that it\u2019s thoughtlessly mechanized but, if implemented correctly,\u00a0\u00a0I actually think that we can run a lot of passive activations that way.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Embedding this technology also carries risk. Do the ethical obstacles worry you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Of course, it\u2019s about the collection of data. Embedded sensors capture very personal data about you when you get up, when the light goes on, when you have a shower, how long you\u2019ve been in your shower [laughs]\u2014your water and energy usage. There have been data breaches, and I think anyone would be concerned about what happens with that much personal data. I do think that\u2019s an obvious ethical challenge. But one of the other dangers is \u2013 as we move into automated housing and embedded sensors \u2013 that we don\u2019t have one estate manager. Every dweller is responsible for their own home, and there\u2019s a genuine risk that you will end up with vulnerable, older people who might not actually be interested or able to use these systems. We must be\u00a0very<\/em>\u00a0careful with the ethical side of using a lot of these systems because we don\u2019t want to end up in a situation where, to live comfortably in a home, you need to be able to use those systems \u2013 we need inclusive designs and systems. These kinds of challenges make it so important to look at the discussion from the user perspective and try to understand the real issues and risks and how we can resolve them. I think it means we need more of that collaborative, human-centric approach to technology and sensors in tech, particularly when it\u2019s in homes, before we start rolling it out across the industry. We just don\u2019t have enough knowledge to do that yet, at least not at the scale to mainstream it. Because if we\u2019re not careful, we\u2019re excluding people, and then they\u2019ve been excluded from the benefit, which in itself is unethical.<\/p>\n

What do you feel is standing in the way of this change for the sector? Is it conservatism? A lack of understanding?\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a tough one, right? Frankly, I think I would say the biggest obstacle is money. Money and lack of regulations. If we were told tomorrow, this is how you\u00a0have<\/em>\u00a0to do it \u2013 we would create a systemic change. I mean, let\u2019s think about the pandemic. Would you imagine two years ago, we would be told you now have to work from home, and you have to wear masks on public transport? It\u2019s an immense task but, somehow, governments and communities have managed to do it. When you can show people why this is done \u2013 or must be done \u2013 for the benefit of the community, then it\u2019s remarkable how many people actually go with it and support it. The climate crisis is as pressing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But, presumably, enforcement will always prove to be an issue.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The problem is that in democracy and free societies, we don\u2019t think we should have regulation. But we are not going to solve the climate crisis through voluntary actions and without actually creating a level playing field in development. That\u2019s why the construction industry is considered to be quite conservative on the whole and quite slow in moving forward and doing things. The question is: can they see a benefit to them economically?\u00a0<\/p>\n

But still, in certain quarters, I really get the sense of urgency. They need to do something,\u00a0now\u00a0<\/em>when we have to transform everything. But generally there isn\u2019t that sense of urgency and the scale of transformation. We like thinking there are ways to potentially do things a bit better. But we have to shift. It\u2019s like turning the Titanic around and not hitting the iceberg. And if we don\u2019t make regulations, it\u2019s going to keep steering in the direction of the iceberg.<\/p>\n

Finally, can you give us a taste of what you\u2019re going to cover as part of your keynote speech at WDBE 2021?<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you look at some of the other speakers, they are covering robotics and other advanced sensor technology. But I think, in many ways, the sector is still in its infancy. What I want to do in my talk is unpick our learning to date and examine solutions in the sector where we\u2019ve seen a positive impact. And\u2026 ones where the results were not so great [laughs<\/em>]. It\u2019s a case of looking at the benefits to residents. Because we\u2019re not a homogeneous group of people who live in the same way. We have different needs, ways of working, amounts of time, and capacities to negotiate with these issues. I think we often forget about that. I think that\u2019s a challenge worth tackling.<\/p>\n

Dr. Sofie Pelsmakers will be speaking at WDBE 2021 on September 29, 2021.\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0You can\u00a0r<\/a>eview the summit program<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0register for the event<\/a>\u00a0at\u00a0WDBE.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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