Fewer journeys to the construction site, lower transport costs, lower emissions of C02 and nitrogen and a faster construction time. These are the proven advantages of the BouwHub, VolkerWessels' new construction logistics standard.
The BouwHub is a location on the outskirts of the city to which all the necessary building materials are transported. From the BouwHub, the entire logistics process of the construction chain (from supplier to construction site) is monitored and coordinated. The suppliers are unloaded without waiting times, the deliveries are consolidated into day packages and transported to the construction projects in the inner cities in the smartest way possible. Open data is used for this. Products are also prefabricated at BouwHub and the BouwHub also serves as a car park from which the construction site employees are taken to the construction site. Employees can get to work immediately as everything is already ready at their workplace. On the way back to the BouwHub, the vans take waste from the construction site with them.
In Utrecht, various VolkerWessels companies, fellow contractors and subcontractors have been working successfully with the BouwHub for years.
Research TNO demonstrates effectiveness BouwHub
Together with independent research organisation TNO a lot of research has been done into the positive effects of the BouwHub. By working with the BouwHub significant savings have been realised in terms of sustainability, labour productivity, the number of cargo movements, load factor and waiting times.
But the success of the BouwHub is not just in the figures. Construction logistics is also about chain cooperation. The better we work together in the chain, the less inconvenience we cause to the city centre and the cleaner and smarter we can build. We therefore anticipate that, following in the footsteps of Utrecht, the need for construction logistics hubs on the outskirts of large cities will only increase.
Circular BouwHub Amsterdam
The success of the VolkerWessels BouwHub in Utrecht has given us taste for more. VolkerWessels and Beelen have now set up the first circular BouwHub in the Westelijk Havengebied of Amsterdam. It is now a white-label concept which means that all parties, builders and suppliers, will make use of the facilities. The location is water-bound, which means that transport of materials, equipment and people over water is also possible. This offers opportunities for the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area to sustainably optimise its inner-city logistics and reduce its CO2 footprint. Thanks to the circular BouwHub and the on-site processing of waste streams into new building material, the distance that material travels is reduced to a minimum.
A workshop has also been set up at the BouwHub in Amsterdam to reintegrate people with a distance to the labour market into the labour process. We hope to enrich more BouwHubs in the future with such a 'TalentHub' (watch the film).
In the coming years, VolkerWessels will invest in the development and realisation of more BouwHubs in the Netherlands. It is our ambition to roll out the BouwHubs in all urban areas where there is a positive business case.