Celebrating World Green Building Week

I joined CDM Stravitec as Technical Manager for Floating Floors (Stravifloor and Stravigym brands), and then expanded my responsibilities to Straviwood. My role is closely linked to R&D, encompassing solution development, technical support, and the continuous enhancement of our technical expertise. These activities help us validate our solutions from both acoustic and vibration perspectives, and ensure that product development responds to real market needs.

I initially started as a design engineer in MEP, working with mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, fire safety and building energy performance. I later moved into timber construction, where I worked as both an R&D engineer and a design engineer, developing products and preparing technical documentation and presentations. After further experience in a design office in Sydney, I joined CDM Stravitec. My strong affinity with the world of music also played an important part in choosing this field. 

I have worked on several interesting and original projects throughout my career. If I had to mention one recent example, it would be the K_ij test campaign, which I managed together with external partners. We prepared the test set-up in an external laboratory and carried out a campaign to measure flanking sound transmission across different solutions, comparing the parameters that influence this specific topic. 

I am sometimes critical of the term green building, because it can also be associated with greenwashing. In a sense, the greenest building is the one that does not need to be built, since construction uses raw materials and consumes resources. The first questions should therefore be: do we really need this space, how much do we need to build, and could we renovate or reuse something instead? We should optimise the design, reuse resources and make buildings last as long as possible without major interventions or new construction. If the building is necessary, we can then consider its carbon footprint, the materials selected and their relative impact. Certifications such as LEED and BREEAM also look at water and energy management, biodiversity, user health and well-being, and the economic role of the building. That broader view is not always the first image people have in mind when they hear the term green building. 

From an acoustic and vibration-control perspective, I see two main contributions. The first is user comfort and well-being. Whether the building is a school, a residential development or an office, it needs to provide the right conditions for its intended use and remain suitable for that purpose over time. The second is the carbon footprint of the materials selected to achieve the required performance, including floating floors, suspended ceilings and windows. Acoustic material choices therefore also influence the building’s overall carbon footprint. 

Occupant well-being is fundamental. A sustainable building should provide the right acoustic comfort for the people using it and support its intended purpose over the long term. If a space is uncomfortable or unsuitable for its users, it cannot be considered truly sustainable from a service-life perspective. 

Working with sustainability is not easy. It is not a purely quantitative exercise; it also involves qualitative judgement and many preconceived ideas, such as the assumption that sustainable buildings always require higher costs or more complex solutions. Some materials with a lower carbon impact can be more expensive, but that is not always the case. Good planning and design can help balance these factors, extend the building’s service life and improve comfort. The key is having the right technical support to select an appropriate long-term and sustainable solution. 

An R&D project begins by defining what we want to offer that is different or new, as well as the performance and criteria we want to achieve. We do this in consultation with colleagues who are closer to the market. These requirements guide the design process and help us avoid both overdesign and underdesign. Throughout the project, we regularly reassess whether the initial request is still relevant and fine-tune it when necessary. We are also introducing an eco-design checklist into the R&D process, so that every product development or product change is consistently reviewed from a sustainability perspective. 

R&D and market needs operate on different timelines, so good forecasting is essential. With the capacity we have, around 70 to 90% of our work may not be used in the final product. However, that work is necessary to ensure that the remaining solution is the right one. Testing alternatives gives us confidence that the final product is optimised and that the approaches we did not select have been properly evaluated. 

I would like to see stronger governance and a clearer strategy for the resources we use and produce, with greater emphasis on regional or continental sourcing. We are highly dependent on other continents and their resources, which makes long-term planning difficult when events thousands of kilometres away can have a major impact on prices. We may not be able to source everything locally, but we should move towards a more resilient and considered approach. 

Do not build what you do not need. Focus on projects that are genuinely necessary and use resources wisely.