From smart solutions to system change: the 24th CFP Innovation Day (Parkside Hall)
Real estate is the largest asset we collectively own. To make it sustainable and future-proof, we need smart innovations. At this 24th edition of the CFP Innovation Day, 16 pioneers stepped into the arena to present their innovations. Their audience? A mix of decision-makers, asset managers, peers and users from both commercial and residential real estate, across various sectors. They were surprised, inspired, and left with fresh insights and new energy. Curious what you missed from the eight pitchers in Parkside Hall? Here’s your recap.
Curious what happened in the other room? Read the report from ’t Wiel here.
Three mindset shifts
1. Orca – Harmen Otten
Harmen Otten opened the Parkside session by presenting ORCA, the organisation breaking the stigma around carbon offsetting. Instead of “buying it off,” they show how local carbon compensation can create meaningful impact. Harmen took the audience through a different way of thinking: ORCA sees carbon offsetting as an opportunity to invest in sustainable, local projects.
Examples include an agroforestry food forest and a plastic recycler that, with the right investment, can survive competition from cheaper production of virgin plastic. This is how ORCA makes carbon offsetting tangible—and even attractive. Companies supporting these projects can visit them in person, turning doubts about greenwashing into measurable impact.
2. KnopOm – Renee Snoek
Renée Snoek from KnopOm also guided the audience through a mindset shift—this time in the housing sector. Housing associations are working hard to make their properties more sustainable. Renée saw first-hand where things go wrong: frustration among tenants and failed projects because at least 70% of residents must agree before measures can be implemented.
KnopOm sees sustainability not as a technical transition, but as a social one. The resident is central to the process: their wishes are mapped at the start and they are actively involved throughout. And KnopOm flips the process in another way too: instead of researching each individual building separately, they find buildings that match proven solutions, reducing duplication of work.
The result: a smarter, faster and more social path to a sustainable housing stock.
3. Oosterwold – Jan-Albert Blaauw
The housing theme continued with Jan-Albert Blaauw, who presented the extraordinary neighbourhood of Oosterwold. This is not your typical new-build area with uniform houses. In Oosterwold, buyers purchase a plot and can build whatever they like. The only conditions: no more than one-eighth of the land may be built on, and half must be used for urban agriculture.
The ambition: grow 10% of Almere’s food locally. A cooperative supports residents in setting up their agriculture. The initiative is gaining traction, professional growers are now interested too. The digital platform Social Farmer further boosts the system by showing what is produced and what is in demand. This is how a short food supply chain becomes scalable.
Green buildings are more than ‘real-estate porn’
Heat stress, extreme rainfall, drought and biodiversity loss are the consequences of climate change that we already feel, and will feel even more in the coming years. Both Mobilane and The Urban Jungle Project have tackled these issues by turning to nature-based solutions on existing buildings. Plants and trees in cities bring countless benefits: climate resilience, cleaner air, lower temperatures, carbon reduction, to name just a few. But how do you apply this in dense urban areas?
4. The Urban Jungle Project – Daan Grasveld
The Urban Jungle Project focuses on rooftops. But greenery on flat roofs is heavy, and while new buildings can be designed for this, existing buildings often cannot support much weight. With 80% of the buildings we will have in 2050 already standing today, this is a major opportunity. Daan Grasveld explained how lightweight, 3D-printed jungle blocks and smart substrates can green roofs with a load capacity as low as 130 kg per m². The modular system keeps costs low, is easy to install, and boosts property value.
More greenery in cities isn’t just good for the climate—it also looks attractive, bringing commercial benefits. A roof without a current function can be turned into a rooftop garden, small park or terrace, improving the building’s appeal and competitive position. That means more rental potential and higher rental income. For employers, green offices become more inviting places to work, helping address the post-pandemic challenge of getting employees back on site. Thanks to the innovative solution and a strong pitch, The Urban Jungle Project was crowned the winner of the Innovation Day! We’ll see them again at the Green Buildings Event in spring 2026.
5. Mobilane
Mobilane shifts the focus from green roofs to green façades. With around 40 plants per square metre, they protect buildings against heat stress. Vincent van Osch explained how Mobilane’s modular systems use rust-resistant profiles. Green façades extend building lifespan and increase property value—by up to 6%. The renovation of Essenza’s office in Bunnik is a striking example: the building became more sustainable and a visual landmark. The green façades boost biodiversity, improve air quality and enhance user wellbeing.
Sustainable buildings: but how?
6. Unica – Edwin Koers
To future-proof real estate, electrification is accelerating. But more electricity—and less dependence on fossil fuels—leads to grid congestion: a rapidly growing problem in the past five years, with significant risks and high complexity. Edwin Koers from Unica explained the choices real estate owners and investors face. Instead of stand-alone decisions (install a charging station here, add a battery there), Unica emphasises integrated thinking. Their Flex EnergieScan supports this approach with an Energy Management System (EMS) for planning and design.
After mapping the building’s energy system and creating a digital twin, capacity planning becomes possible. The scan shows where bottlenecks will occur and which practical, feasible measures can prevent them. It helps avoid unpleasant surprises such as:
- Solar panels for which you suddenly have to pay to feed into the grid
- Charging stations with insufficient power supply
Flex EnergieScan enables companies to use energy systems optimally, save costs and prepare for energy legislation.
7. CFP Green Buildings – Stan Thomas
Energy legislation can be complex, as CFP Green Buildings knows. The Carbon Risk Real Estate Monitor (CRREM) helps real estate owners align their carbon emissions with the Paris 2050 climate goals. However, the CRREM tool is inflexible and time-intensive. The resulting graph is clear, but leaves a lot of potential untapped.
Stan Thomas explained how CFP’s CRREM Advanced tool addresses this. It requires the same data input, but offers much more flexibility. Emission factors can be adjusted, and measures can be planned into the roadmap. This shows the impact of adding solar panels, heat pumps or presence-controlled lighting. This makes decision-making easier and helps align sustainability strategies with 2050 targets.
The best of bamboe
8. Bamboi – Joseph Nickisch
From data to… toilet paper. Many toilets are flushed with paper containing PFAS, making toilet paper one of the biggest contributors to PFAS pollution. Bamboi wants to change that. While conventional paper is made from recycled pulp, Bamboi turns to bamboo—naturally antibacterial, fast-growing and requiring far less water than trees. Bamboo even holds the Guinness World Record as the fastest-growing plant.
Pruning bamboo is also beneficial for the forest: managed bamboo forests are 5% more efficient than unmanaged ones. Bamboi uses this pruned bamboo to produce PFAS-free toilet paper. Joseph Nickisch explained the impact. Switching to bamboo toilet paper in the Netherlands could save more than 1.3 billion kilograms of carbon and 197.4 million litres of water, while reducing PFAS pollution caused by chemicals in recycled toilet paper.
Joseph’s closing question—“Which role will you choose?”—applied to the entire Innovation Day. With such a broad range of innovations and expertise, there was something for everyone to learn and take action on. During the closing drinks, many new connections were made. We are curious to see which collaborations and trial projects will emerge from this year’s edition!
Want to read about the pitches in the other room? Read the report from Room ’t Wiel or explore the CFP Innovation Day event.
