Construction company Janssen de Jong from Son, received last Wednesday on the Provada the NOM mark for new homes, which it builds according to the zero-on-the-meter concept. It is therefore the first construction company in the Netherlands to receive this approval mark/certificate for new buildings.
These homes have no energy bill for ten years. Janssen de Jong takes care of the maintenance.

At BeNext we are proud to be able to use our Smart Home technology for sustainable projects like Janssen de Jong, making the world better and more beautiful.
BeNext provides independent and universally applicable energy monitoring and remote service management portals for living and real estate management of the future.
For more information, please contact us.

Artikel Financieel Dagblad | Artikel Cobouw | Website Janssen de Jong Bouw

BeNext Smart Home makes Zero-on-the-meter (NOM) properties ‘Smart’. It ensures that people have control over their property and if the situation requires the property itself can direct contact with residents or contact a connected service provider.

A smart home is a home where all climate systems and relevant elements of a home can communicate digitally with each other to make energy efficient schemes that saves energy. It offers comfort, safety, convenience, makes life safe and provides extensive information capabilities.

Organizations that manage and maintain homes and guarantees energy performance (NOM / EPV) are using private and secured BeNext Service portals to monitor homes from distance and provide their services.

In Groevenbeek North, Ermelo in The Netherlands, 39 smart energy efficient homes were realized including many innovations, such as local energy storage, smart shading, ventilation and heating. Through BeNext Smart Home technology everything is connected, operates together, information is processed into usable information to the residents.
Everything comes together in a digital panel, where residents gets insight of their homes and can control the status of their property.
Besides a display there is also a BeNext Smart Home app to safely control the homes anytime and from anyplace.

BeNext Smart Home is ready for the next step, the smart Zero-on-the-meter house.

 

The IRIS Smart Home is a result of cooperation between construction company Dura Vermeer and ICT company BeNext. Combine proven ICT technology and 160 years of experience and knowledge in the field of housing and you get a unique and comprehensive product. And that’s exactly what constitutes cooperation between ICT company BeNext and builder Dura Vermeer: ​​IRIS, the first truly smart home in the Netherlands.

The developed IRIS home by Dura and BeNext distinguishes itself from other “smart” homes by the so-called Smart Cloud. That learns patterns and establishes connections with products and services linked to the property. Have the solar panels generated enough energy? Then the dishwasher automatically turns on. If the water meter finds that there is a leak, the water will be terminated immediately. So, you do not come home to a flooded house.

Residents always keep control of their home. “Through a simple app home control is at your fingertips. You can adjust the temperature, turn on or off the lights or washing machine, monitoring energy and water consumption, open or close a window and much more, “says Tristan Chater of Dura Vermeer.

Dura Vermeer and BeNext want to offer more of these integrated services in the future. Not only in terms of residents convenience and durability, but also when it comes to, for example security and predictable maintenance. The companies are looking for that cooperation with insurance companies, delivery and other service providers.

By partnering Dura Vermeer makes a flying start in the area of ​​the Smart Home digitization in homes. “And BeNext reach a very large audience,” Chater said. “We take this significant step toward the smart cities of the future and we contribute to the energy transition.”

In a few weeks Dura Vermeer starts with the construction of the first IRIS homes in RijswijkBuiten. And within 5 years we build and renovate only smart homes.
For more information: Visit IRIS Smart Home Website

 

App Widgets

Do you want to switch your Lifestyles and Scenes quicker? Just add a Widget.

A widget acts as a shortcut and allows you to control your home without opening the BeNext application. Setting up a Widget is straightforward and allows you to divide them by account. Control the size and amount of the widgets yourself.

Try it now! For more information, visit: BeNext.eu/Apps

Widgets in app

Wireless Smart Meter Readouts

In addition to being the heart of the BeNext system, our Gateway is also a tool for reading out your Smart Meter. To achieve this, an internet connection on location was normally needed.

Which is we now have the BeNext P1-Dongle. With this dongle you can read out your smart meter wirelessly, so you do no longer need an internet connection at that specific location. As always, these readouts get displayed in your BeNext app and webportal immediately.

For more information, visit: BeNext.eu/en/products/p1-dongle

 

On Friday the 17th of June the event “Smart Home” took place @ FabCity at the LearningLab – located on Java eiland in Amsterdam. FabCity is a temporary and freely accessible campus at Java eiland which was created in the context of the Dutch chairmanship of the European Union in 2016. The Campus consists of innovative stands and installation for the development of the sustainable city of tomorrow. The campus is open between April 11 until June 26.

The afternoon started with a tour of FabCity, led by guides which showed all the participants that all the aspects of life, living, building can be done differently, and are less, or even absent from damaging our environment. After the tour the participants gathered at the LearningLab where the companies involved in the smart conversion of the accommodations and offices of Finch Buildings presented themselves. All of them describe the same goals and principles. Living in the future should become more sustainable, healthier, more energy efficient and self-sustaining.

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Jurrian Knijtijzer Finch Buildings

Jurrian Knijtijzer – Finch Buildings

The kick-off presentation was done by Domotica.Guru, the expert in converting existing and new accommodations into wireless smart. DomoticaGuru works with the core technology provided by BeNext and combines all the major aspects of an accommodation within one app designed to connect these aspects in an user friendly way. DomoticaGuru’s Arno Rootsaert explained why you should make your living space “smart”. More comfort, security, energy saving, healthier living climate, and adaptable to meet the changing needs through the course a lifetime are all relevant. The Internet of Things is already creeping into consumer’s lives: A smart thermostat, smart lighting etc. But who puts the resident first? Many manufacturers are developing their own app, and the residents? They are turning dizzy from all the different apps on their smartphones which lack cohesion or neglect to work properly. The challenge is to convert homes to smart in a way which is appealing to the resident, where the resident only benefits and gains control of its home.

Jurrian Knijtijzer from Finch Buildings presented his sustainable, adaptable and stackable accommodations made from solid wood, which sets a new standard for building homes. Circular construction has been thoroughly thought through, the modules of Finch Buildings are adaptable and can be used as senior accommodations, student housing, hotels, and living facilities for residence permit holders. The modular build system is both temporary and permanent applicable and are completely circular. This means that there is no need to look for long term solutions. If the modules were to be unusable in 50 years, they can be recycled with ease. This way the materials maintain their value.

The buildings by Finch Buildings are cheap and easy to relocate and can be transported via public roads. Because all the modules are plug and play, they can be paired to create small or big living spaces. Every module has its own facilities, like a kitchen, bathroom and meter cupboards. The modules are interchangeable and have an internal height of 2.8 meters. The modules are completely electrical, no gas connection is available. They only use electricity is sustainable, generated, for example, by solar panels.

Taking into account the force the wood structure can take, five story buildings are feasible. Building the modules from solid wood, in contrast to materials like sheet-rock and concrete, has its advantages, the living conditions are healthier. Finch Buildings has different projects in development, in and out of the Netherlands.

 

Edwin van Kessel van BeNext

Edwin van Kessel – BeNext

Edwin van Kessel of BeNext, the independent Smart Solution developer from Amsterdam, showed how BeNext supports fitters with their smart ICT solutions. By integrating various meters with their Smart Home and Cloud solutions, they make sure that installers can guarantee the energy performance of “Nul Op de Meter” (zero-on the-meter, or “NOM”) homes. BeNext creates insight into electricity, hear, water, gas, and yield of installations and facilitates information and service portals for fitters and real estate service organizations. These are used to monitor these facilities off-site and real-time. This ensures that management and maintenance of installations in accommodations are done more efficiently, and in case of failures or disasters can be dealt with pro actively. Some zero-on the-meter examples are given. BeNext also developed a complete solution for wireless reading and monitoring of a water meter including a LoRa network on Aruba.

BeNext also developed a complete solution for wireless reading and monitoring of water metersm including the LoRa network on Aruba. BeNext developed, at FabCity in cooperation with Proliad and Xicato, a pilot for the offices of Finch Buildings, for controlling the Xicato LED lighting via the Dali protocol, which will make this lighting standard accessible and affordable for usage in homes.

 

SmartHome@FabCity - 11

Wouter Verhoeven – Proliad / Xicato

Wouter Verhoeven of Proliad took the floor to tell about what qualitative LED lighting stands for and why he prefers using LED lighting from Xicato in his projects. Xicato is good quality LED lighting because of the colour retention and the guaranteed burning time. It mainly works with remote phosphor which has less influence on temperature. Looking at the projects by Proliad you can see immediately that you are dealing with a specialist, the van Gogh museum, the Dom tower in Utrecht, the Voorlinden museum, are all projects by Proliad. Through their own design department, 3D-printer, computer guided milling machines, they create fittings.
According to Wouter more and more lighting in living facilities are turning towards the 48V, which has nothing but advantages. And what about the creation of smart lighting? BLE Bluetooth Low Energy is already applicable however for accommodations we tend to think about feelings and experiences, because you can influence people with light. Give light a more blueish look during the summer which makes it feel cooler, and during the winter use more yellow and red shades which tend to feel warmer. People are sensitive to these kinds of changes and we should take advantage of that fact.

Of course the local generation of energy could not be absent, and for that Roel van den Berg of Autarco assisted. Autarco installed a solar power installation on the roof of Finch Buildings. Autarco works with recognized fitters and goes one step beyond the service provided by the traditional solar power industry. Autarco supplies complete solar power systems and provides a guaranteed minimum generation. An interesting development is that Autarco connects seamlessly to the Smart Home platform of BeNext, which means that generated electricity can be applied efficiently. So when in 2020 netting arrangements in the Netherlands change, or energy costs turn dynamic, this installation can distribute its energy automatically to the most cost effective components, which is good for the wallet.

SmartHome@FabCity - 17

Niels van Lingen – ThermIQ

But what do you need all that electricity for? In France and Norway they think they have the solution. They are already used to electric heating, where in the Netherlands we rely on natural gas – like there is nothing else. By generating electricity via the sun we are turning our focus more and more towards electrical solutions, so we can leave our gas era behind us. We are living in homes that are better insulated which means it requires less power to heat them, and this way infra-red heating seems like an ideal solution to keep it at a comfortable temperature. Niels van Lingen from ThermIQ held his plea on the heating of homes with electric infra-red panels, he provided calculation examples of gas versus infrared installation and showed all the benefits of infra-red heating. Everyone should be familiar with infra-red heating since the sun does it. The air does not get heated, but the mass does, which makes it that we have cool air, approximately 18 degrees Celsius, in our homes, which keeps us focused but feels like a comfortable 23 degrees.

The plenary presentations were followed by a visit to Finch Buildings, a living space consisting of two attached units, the office and a student apartment downstairs.

We finished the afternoon in the greenhouse of FabCafe, where the popup restaurant OnsEten served food based on ingredients from farms or vegetable gardens, because in the city of the future our food will evolve as well.

“I have enjoyed my visit to FabCity and the Smart Home presentation. I was impressed by the human capital, the entrepreneurship and the innovating these Duchies have created.
I was speechless” – Ir. René de Brouwer of Evanston Consulting.

Download links below of a few of the presentatiosn

BeNext: The Smart Solution Provider for connected Smart Homes.
Edwin van Kessel

DomoticaGuru: Connecting Things en ook de bewoners.
Arno Rootsaert

Proliad / Xicato, Verlichting van de toekomst, gegarandeerd, gezond en slim.
Wouter Verhoeven

Autarco, De toekomst van eigen energie opwekking.
Roel van den Berg

een-droom-wordt-werkelijkheid

A dream becomes reality

Soon the first autarke accommodation is finished. In Cadzand an accommodation is created which is, energy wise, completely self-sufficient.

The house will be built in Zwindorp, commissioned by Astrid and Dick Rakhosrt. This entrepreneurs couple from Heeswijk-Dinther made name in the construction world by building the first sustainable art gallery in The Netherlands. Now they have turned their focus on self-sufficient accommodations, of which realization is near.

Home made from cross layer wood

Architect Renz Pijnenborgh of Archi service from ‘s-Hertogenbosch, a pioneer in environmentally friendly construction, has provided the drawings for this accommodation. The building is completely made out of cross layer wood and consist of three wedge shaped components, where the roofs are covered with solar panels whom produce sufficient energy to power the house. The surplus is stored in Dick’s electric car. The Tesla has been ordered and can also provide the house with power if needed.

A heat storage buffer in the basement and a heat pump take care of the heating of the accommodation. Natural ventilation, comfort and security are regulated by modern wireless domotics. Rainwater is used for the water, where natural and technical resources are used for purification and storage.

read more

Environmentally friendly and sustainable construction

The first meetings of the construction team took place in Zeeland (Netherlands) at the beginning of February. The team consists of people who have proven themselves in the field of environmentally and sustainable constructions, people from traditional companies who see this as a challenge and people from the hightech-sector who want to ensure home automation is a part of their daily lives.

Dick Rackhorst

Dick Rackhorst

Rakhost loves to initiate these kinds of projects, to be constantly stimulating sustainable innovations, and provide people with new ideas when brought together. “I’ve always been an innovative person, seeking opportunities and realising these with others. My daughter Anne-Marie (Duurzaam Gebouwd-expert Anne-Marie Rakhorst) is even better at it, because she is even more engaging than her father” he says with a smile on his face.

Rakhorst started his own company with his degree in HTS electronics and some experience in the field at the age of 29. “I started with bringing personal computers to the Netherlands. Back then there was a lack of affordable printers. By combining electronics, I created affordable printers which were able to work with all PC brands.” After he sold his company – Manudax – he bought a company specialized in electronic physical therapy devices.

The desire to be an entrepreneur and stimulate sustainable innovations still exists, despite almost being 75 years of age.
“My age, and that of my wife, who is a year younger, has been of great influence to start the project Cadzand. Are we doing it or not? We both knew it, we can do it – we have that luxury. And even more important: We were allowed to.”

Cadzand vakantiehuis

Cadzand summer home

For ages Rakhorst was held back. It cannot be done, not allowed to, unable to. And suddenly the lights turned green at Cadzand. They discovered Cadzand themselves. The family was looking for a place to spend their vacation and found a camp site at Knokke, Belgium. Dick discovered the less grey looking Cadzand at the other side of the border much more appealing. Via the campsite they moved to a bungalow, which is now being torn down. The permit has been granted. And now the second stage has commenced, the building of their new home.

Domotics

DomoticaGuru-BeNext is helping integrate their state-of-the-art wireless technologies alongside architect Pijnenborgh, to connect all the technical installation like doors, windows, lighting, heating. Rakhorst is a strong believer of this technology. “We have gained sufficient experience in our sustainable gallery and current home where energy generation and consumption is monitored. A smart Fakro window has been installed in the roof which contributes to a healthier indoor climate via CO2 controlled regulators. This window also provides cooling, it automatically opens during the summer and closes when it is cooler outside than inside at night. We know that we do not need air conditioning in our summerhouse in Cadzand. If everything goes to plan we hope to be done this fall.” Rakhorst said.

In the presentation “Natuurlijke Ventilatie & Zomernachtkoeling geautomatiseerd” (“Natural ventilation & Summer night cooling automated”) shows building biologist and architect Renz Pijnenborgh how building ecologically and “Internet of Things for the Home” go hand in hand to create a self-sufficient and healthy indoor environment.

We are proud of the fact that we were able to realize these accommodations in cooperation with Renz.


Recording: Building Holland 2016, the all-out event for construction and real estate professionals.

Building Holland 2016

We would like to invite you to our stand 09005 on the fair Building Holland 2016 in de RAI! From 22 march till 24 march

P1-Dongle

Do you not have Internet access in your cupboard so you can not read your smart meter data using the Internet Gateway?

Our new P1 Dongle allows you to wirelessly transmit this data to the Gateway. This data is then displayed in the BeNext application and online environment. Where you have insight of your consumptions and eventually the yield of your solar panels.

The P1 dongle can connect to smart meters when they support DSMR (Dutch Smart Meter Reader Protocol).
We support all smart meters (DSMR2, 4 and 5) with a P1 connector.
The next smart meter brands have this connection: Kaifa, Kamstrup, Landis & Gyr and Elster Iskra.

For more information about smart meters, click here.
Order a special adapter for DSMR2.x meters.


The P1 Dongle is now available, see the dongle page or order directly in the webshop.