This year Jérôme Lopez from Nobatek took the leap and guided a group of students through the Méta Plateau Projet#3 (MPP3) to develop a tool to help with decision making. He talks about his HABITER2030 membership.
What is NOBATEK?
Jérôme LOPEZ. NOBATEK is a centre for applied research, an institute for the energy and environmental transition of the construction sector. Our team develops innovative solutions for sustainable construction and renovation with the entire construction industry. The goal is to explore emerging technologies at an early stage (with a low level of maturity) or at an advanced stage with the strong potential to respond to the environmental and energy challenges of the future.
The company works with companies, start-ups, SMEs, VSEs, and major enterprises in the development of new models, services and products on four themes:
- Materials and envelope components: The development of bio-sourced construction materials, reuse (for example: the qualification of materials through methods allowing to reuse deconstructed structures in new buildings).
- Energy: The optimisation of energy systems and energy management (geothermal, energy recovery from gray water, heat pumps), data modeling, management and analysis.
- Environment: Adaptation to and mitigation of climate change (urban heat islands, thermal comfort, environmental evaluation).
- Uses: digital twins, consultation and training.
These initiatives have an economic impact on a national scale.
NOBATEK also works on operational projects as the Assistant to the Contracting Authority or as the Contracting Authority in the tertiary sector (high schools, middle schools, care home, sports teams, offices) and housing. The developed expertise allows us to guide public and private actors in the implementation of sustainable, high-impact solutions.
How did you discover HABITER2030?
Jérôme LOPEZ. I discovered HABITER2030 through conversations with Éric Delacourt who told me about the Solar Décathlon competition, and about his commitment, which immediately resonated with projects that I oversee through my work. During a visit, Éric came to see an intern to make sure everything was going well. Our conversations quickly developed into broader reflections on the project and its integration in our ecosystem. This experience allowed me to connect with the students, to better understand their profiles and the environments in which they evolve. I also built connections with the association through Éric and Denis, as well as with the innovation ecosystem of the Hauts-de-France. This year, I took the leap, and I was able to guide a group of students participating in the Méta Plateau Projet#3 (MPP3) to design a decision-making tool.
Why did you join HABITER2030?
Jérome LOPEZ. I am a member of the association, although based in Bordeaux. For me, signing up to a structure like this is above all a personal commitment to contribute to an innovation ecosystem. This enables the transmission of a vision and to develop collaborations with researchers, universities and local socio-economic actors.
My experience in the Solar Décathlon projects played a key role in this decision. I had decided to participate in this competition with the Bordeaux teams in 2010 and 2012 and then in 2014 in Paris as a member of the organising team. These experiences gave me a concrete vision of the impact that similar projects could have.
My company, NOBATEK, is a centre for applied R&D, committed to the energy and environmental transition of the building industry. We work on the decarbonisation of the sector, in partnership with labs to develop innovative solutions and to help companies with concrete projects: thermal comfort, air quality, advanced energy systems, bio- and geo-sourcing and materials reuse. Our work is at once local, national and European, with numerous research and supervisory projects. This approach corresponds perfectly to the issues raised by HABITER2030.
How does the Méta Plateau Projet work in Lambersart?
Jérome LOPEZ. I worked with a group of students across several meetings and remote work sessions. In all, we organised between 5 – 10 sessions these last months. Recently, I attended their class presentations.
It’s a well organised team with an excellent level of project management. We spoke a lot, tested different approaches and explored several leads. The ideas had potential but the reality of the terrain also brought us constraints, notably in terms of access to certain data for evaluation indicators.
Concerning the internships, the students have already found a project for this year. However, we regularly recruit between 4 – 5 interns and would be happy to welcome a student from this project next year.
Today, what does the collaboration with HABITER2030 bring you?
Jérome LOPEZ. This experience brought me a better understanding of the student dynamic, of their way of organising and working together. It is also a nice opportunity for transmission and sharing.
I still see many opportunities to interact with the association. I will be participating in the statutory town hall meeting the mornings of June 26th and 27th in order to deepen discussions with the members of the association and the ecosystem. I look forward to continuing these collaborations and seeing how we can work together to advance our shared projects.
