Sustainable projects and Shayp: a golden combination
At ION we promote sustainability and environment-friendly initiatives. We specifically ensure that the end users of our residential and commercial real estate projects can easily and efficiently reduce their ecological footprint, for instance by making use of heat distribution grids, by offering green mobility, by providing collective boiler rooms and by installing green roofs. Our cooperation with Shayp is essential in this respect. Marketing Manager Daan Ver Eecke and Office and Facility Manager Peter Haelvoet explain.
Waregem Business Park
Peter: “The head office of ION in Waregem Business Park is a prime example of our pursuit of sustainability. The building’s daily CO₂ emission is reduced to a minimum thanks to geothermal energy, green roofs and smart water management.”
Daan: “Sustainability is one of our priorities, it’s in our DNA. For that reason, we take sustainable measures for all our projects.”
Smart water management
Peter: “The cooperation with Shayp is a good example of a sustainable measure. Our office building is equipped with their water management technology, which identifies water leaks in buildings in real time. In addition, Shayp automatically issues monthly reports about the number of leaks that were prevented and repaired. Finally, they inform us of the volume of water that was saved and of the CO₂ emissions that were prevented. Emissions can also be reduced by pumping less water and by purifying potable water. And these measures are completely in line with our sustainable strategy. Leaks may occur even in new buildings like Waregem Business Park, which goes to show that new buildings are not risk-free.
We installed Shayp as soon as the construction or our office building was completed. Only a short time later, a leak was detected in the toilets on the ground floor, causing 6 litres of water to be lost every hour. Thanks to a direct alert from Shayp, we put the toilets out of service and had the leak repaired the same day. We then knew that the system worked. Without it, it would certainly have taken a few days or even weeks before we would have discovered the leak!”
Carbon neutrality
Peter: “To us, sustainability is not a greenwashing practice to attract customers. Every year, our partner CO2logic calculates our inevitable CO₂ emission, taking into account electricity, heating and commuting. The outcome is the carbon offset required to be completely climate neutral.”
Daan: “We support the "Saving Trees” project in Uganda to offset our emissions. This NGO distributes environment-friendly ovens that consume less wood and produce less smoke than the traditional wood fires the locals use. Each of these ovens accounts for an annual reduction of CO₂ emissions by 2 tonnes. Moreover, they are produced locally. They decrease pressure on the forests and cause families to reduce their wood consumption and save approximately 100 euro annually.”