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“Partnerships are the best way to promote innovation and sustainability”
IGG Bouweconomie is a cost estimation and cost management firm for high-complexity buildings — constructions that are unique in size, design and location.
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Every year, IGG releases BouwkostenKompas. A booklet with cost information for the Dutch real estate and construction market.
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This booklet has been more than useful for its clients. Yet, most lacked the tools to calculate prices themselves and began calling IGG for advice for their early-design project costs.
Djordy van Laar
Project leader at IGG Bouweconomie
IGG's specialists responded, but they started searching for ways to automate their service. From a partnership with White Lioness technologies, a new parametric tool surfaced.
BouwkostenKompas Pro is the online parametric extension of the booklet. By inputting data such as the building square meters, you can see their impact on your project cost in real time and let your own eyes see what the main cost drivers are.
Djordy van Laar, Project leader at IGG Bouweconomie, joined us to tell us more about the partnership with White Lioness technologies.
Interview
01
IGG BOUWECONOMIE
Thank you for agreeing to participate, Djordy. What started this partnership?
"Partnerships are the best way to promote innovation and sustainability. During a conference, I got in touch with Jeroen Coenders [White Lioness technologies' CEO, ed.]. We're different companies as White Lioness technologies focuses on IT, and we specialise in estimating early design costs. But we're an ideal combination as we both wish to promote parametric design within the building industry."
So, was it mainly a shared vision that started this partnership?
"Yes, the shared vision is the most important factor. But it helps that most of the employees have a background in structural engineering as I have myself."
02
IGG BOUWECONOMIE
What did you gain from this collaboration?
"We first developed BouwkostenKompas Pro; a parametric extension of the booklet we release yearly. Many people use our booklet, but the data is static, and they ended up calling us to ask about small changes to the static data. To improve our offer, we thought to teach them first-hand how different parameters influence the construction cost. Upon release, BouwkostenKompas Pro will fulfil such a task. Another benefit are our monthly meetings where we discuss new opportunities with each other. That's a plus compared to traditional partnerships."
So, are you saying you’re helping each other to grow your business?
"Exactly. And it also has to do with the type of parametric system we're building. We aim to find partners that offer complementary services for BouwkostenKompas Pro. For instance, we want to involve companies that quantify the environmental impact of a building for a more complete estimation. That isn't our expertise, but we can introduce them to BouwkostenKompas Pro and initiate a partnership with White Lioness technologies to develop added features. This will operate like an ecosystem where multiple companies can add value to our clients more than we would separately."
03
IGG BOUWECONOMIE
What added value will you deliver to your clients thanks to BouwkostenKompas Pro?
"Users can manipulate a 3D model, input data and learn which parameters are the main cost drivers through visual feedback. BouwkostenKompas Pro is meant for quick cost estimations in the early design stages, but users can also use it to compare different solutions or the price from a contractor. At later stages, the calculations become too complex, so that's when they'll hopefully come to us for cost management."
04
IGG BOUWECONOMIE
What are the future steps you’ll take together with White Lioness technologies?
"The first step will be to launch BouwkostenKompas Pro beta version. We'll use our customers' feedback to add functionalities and improve the user interface for the premium version. For the future, we want to incorporate Building Information Modelling to let our clients upload a model and receive a detailed cost estimate on the spot. At that point, BouwkostenKompas Pro will be useful for cost estimations also at later design stages."
Any added plan?
"We're also discussing to co-create new softwares with White Lioness technologies. Additionally, we want to grow and learn more about how non-financial parameters, like the carbon released in the atmosphere during construction, enters the picture in construction costs. We aim to advise our customers to seek for the most sustainable solution within their budget."
