Built Environment Commons: Sustainability Consulting and Innovation
Built Environment Commons: Sustainability, Innovation and Collaboration
Our work is based on the connection between sustainability, innovation and collaboration. We help partners transform research and innovation into practical solutions with a positive impact on the built environment. Through our experience in European R&D projects, sustainable architecture, urban planning, construction technologies and innovation ecosystems, we provide specialised support adapted to the needs of each project.
Our Mission: Driving Sustainable Innovation
Our mission is to drive innovation to the highest possible standards by combining expertise in communication, dissemination and exploitation of R&D projects with strong partnerships and multidisciplinary collaboration.
We work with organisations and project teams that want to turn research, technology and innovation into solutions that are understandable, accessible and relevant to users and stakeholders.
Innovation Strategy
We support innovation projects by connecting strategic thinking with technical expertise and practical implementation, helping partners develop solutions aligned with the challenges of the built environment.
We work to make it beautiful
Our team of architects, graphic designers and communication experts guide our partners to bring creative and aesthetic solutions to communicate the advancements and results of R&D projects, projects adapted to users' needs and social aspirations at the urban and building level.
We work to make it sustainable
Our circularity and building experts, involved in several European projects, constantly strive to ensure positive impacts, accessibility, and affordability of technical solutions to meet the sustainability and resilience challenges of the built environment.
We work to be inclusive
For projects facing complex environmental and social challenges, we organize and involve technical experts together with local stakeholders in co-creation workshops. By integrating user feedback loops into the development process, the results are more appropriate solutions with improved and proven social acceptance.
Our Multidisciplinary Team
Explore the expertise of our multidisciplinary team, bringing together architects, engineers, graphic designers, economists and specialists in sustainability, innovation and European R&D projects.
Germain Adell
Dip. Architect / Msc Urban Studies
President
Germain has more than 30 years of academic, research and practice experience in the fields of Sustainable Architecture & Urban planning, R&D in Construction Technologies, and Innovation Ecosystems. For 6 years, till end of 2023, he has been Deputy General Director of the French RTO NOBATEK/INEF4., while he was still coordinating several Horizon 2020 projects, like most recently Metabuilding and Metabuilding Labs. Now he has just been appointed General Director of the Metabuilding ASBL in Brussels, the single-entry point of the Metabuilding Labs Open Innovation Test Bed. Germain has also been very active at the Construction Sector’s EU advocacy level: he is a Steering Committee member of the European Construction Technology Platform (ECTP) since 2015, while also working on its Built Environment Decarbonization Committee Executive Board. He also sits on the External Advisory Board of Construct Innovate, Ireland’s National Research Centre for Construction Technology & Innovation.
Alejandro Adell
Dip. Architect
Senior Project Manager
Alejandro is currently contributing to the Communication workload of the Metabuilding Labs Open Innovation Test Bed H2020 project. He has also been the Communication work package leader in the recently finished Metabuilding H2020 project. In both related projects he promoted an innovative communication approach in the context of innovation ecosystems, the cascade communication, involving multiple relays from different stages of the network (EU, national, regional and cluster levels). Before joining the team, Alejandro developed an extensive architectural practice as project designer and construction manager in Argentina, Chile and Spain, mainly adopting integrated project delivery methods. Later, he has specialized in strategic marketing, graphic design, packaging, and communication materials production, providing support on product development and brand marketing, keeping constant public relations tracking with mass media, generating news and media communication online & offline.
Benjamin Laclau
Senior Building Engineer / Circular Economist Expert
Project Manager
Benjamin is a senior building engineer who has dedicated 18 years of his career to the building sector’s transition toward a circular economy. As the head of the Construction Systems and Materials team and coordinator of Circular Economy activities at the French RTO Nobatek/INEF4 until 2023, Benjamin has participated in numerous national and European R&D projects, including VEEP, Rewastee, DigitalDeconstruction, INFINITE, Build’Up Speed, etc. His focus has been on C&D recycling, reuse, design for disassembly, industrial and territorial symbiosis. He led the first French national project (BAZED) on Zero Waste Design, establishing himself as an influential expert in France with many synergies in Europe. Since 2023, Benjamin divides his time between the board of his startup focused on wood off-site building construction and his role as a project manager at Be Commons, where he continues to contribute to circular economy R&D.
Yael Ventura
Art Director
Project Officer
Yael is a senior graphic designer and publicist graduate of the University of Palermo, in Buenos Aires. She has a background in branding communication and specializes in digital marketing. She was the founder of a graphic design studio where she developed integral branding and communication strategies for brands. Her role as a creative director leading work teams from different areas to solve challenges. She has always been interested in and committed to sustainability, innovation, and collaborative environments, for that reason she has specialized in working with brands with purposes for the last 10 years. Currently, she is working on the development of the Metabuilding platform and the EU Project Metabuilding Labs giving support to the communication team. As a Product Officer at Be Commons, she oversees the improvements and digital innovation to communicate and disseminate EU Research Projects.
Asier Hernández
Asier joined the team after a successful experience in the Innovation & Technology Transfer Department at the French RTO Nobatek/INEF4, where he provided support in Exploitation, Management and Communication activities in several Horizon 2020 projects (Nature4Cities, HyBuild, Geofit and Metabuilding). He notably helped the technical project managers in the definition of Key Exploitable Results and the elaboration of suitable business models. Ha also worked in finding new overseas markets for innovations in sustainable sanitation (from Innoqua Horizon 2020 project). Before reaching Europe, he was Chief Operating Officer in a family-run SME in the construction sector in Buenos Aires.
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