TOBB invests in moisture monitoring in new housing projects

Moisture issues in buildings

Moisture formations in buildings are a significant challenge causing many and extensive damages. The damages result in long downtimes for building managers, their tenants, and businesses, with annual costs amounting to billions of kroner. Figures from 2021 show that moisture damage costs for new buildings during the warranty period amounted to 7.5 billion, while the corresponding figure in the operational phase (after 5 years of operation) was 5.3 billion.

In the last 15 years, we have witnessed a drastic increase in the number of water damages in Norway, and in fact, 7 out of the 10 worst water damage years in history have occurred since 2010. Klima 2050 report estimates an increase in extreme rainfall of 5 – 30% over the next 50 years. This outlines a development that paints a bleak future for a wide range of actors in the construction industry.
 
In addition to the economic consequences, moisture issues also contribute negatively to the overall climate footprint and the reputation of developers' customers, the insurance industry, and society at large.

Sensor system that monitors and alerts about moisture

The founders of Sensor Innovation, who themselves have a background in construction, have taken climate change seriously. The company has developed the sensor system into®, which monitors, measures, and alerts about moisture formations and temperatures in and on the building mass. With this, they make it possible to construct sustainable buildings with long lifespans, actively contributing to the UN's sustainability goals, which describe the importance of proactive measures.

Moisture monitoring will immediately alert in case of a leak so that the leak can be stopped. Without moisture monitoring, however, it will take a long time from when the leak occurs until it is detected, and the extent of damage and renovation costs will naturally be higher accordingly.

Always striving to improve

As Mid-Norway's largest housing cooperative, TOBB has been building and managing homes for its members since 1945. With extensive experience and solid expertise, they provide customers with everyday security and home security through smart management, useful services, and personal advice. They, too, have noticed the increased moisture problems over time and are now taking steps to make their buildings more sustainable and more predictable in terms of maintenance.

An important strategic focus area for TOBB is new technology that can improve both the buildings and their use for housing customers. When Sensor Innovation contacted them in 2020, there was great interest from the outset. An agreement for testing on a real construction project was quickly reached, and the positive experiences from there are now the basis for the framework agreement.

"Like many other players in the industry, TOBB is concerned with sustainability and concrete measures that have a documented effect. When Sensor Innovation came up with such a well-thought-out and relevant technology, we quickly became confident that this was something we wanted to test out", says Ole Jermstad, project manager at TOBB.

Several of TOBB's partners have also adopted moisture monitoring, and the exchange of experiences from these has provided good indications that the advanced sensor system contributes to much-needed security, especially in the execution phase.
 
"This makes us confident that cooperating with Sensor Innovation is a wise and strategically correct choice", says Jermstad.

Erlend Storrø from TOBB and Christian Fredrik Mathisen from NBBL discuss (In Norwegian) how the sensor system from Sensor Innovation will contribute to both better sleep for residents and more sustainable buildings.

Extensive testing period is the basis

During a thorough testing period, TOBB used Sensor Innovation and their products and services in the residential complex Sentrumsgården, in Buvika south of Trondheim.

In connection with the construction of Sentrumsgården, sensors were sent to a factory in Poland, where the building elements for the apartments were produced. With sensors in the building mass itself, TOBB had continuous condition monitoring from when the elements left the factory until the building was completed and entered the regular operational phase.

"After the testing period, we were able to document that the building had the moisture values it should have and be sure that the contractor had done a good job. Knowing that the building was dry, it was particularly satisfying to hand over Sentrumsgården to the housing cooperative in Buvika", Jermstad continues.

Important step towards sustainable buildings

The products and services from Sensor Innovation are sustainable in terms of increased lifespan and reduced risk of damage to/in the building. This allows TOBB to continuously have knowledge about the health condition of the buildings and to implement measures before significant damages occur.

According to Jermstad at TOBB, Sensor Innovation has been constructive to deal with from day one, particularly through its focus on customer satisfaction and the development of products and services together with the customer.

"They often see our challenges and opportunities before us and are "on the ball" to solve them together with us. When they also have a broad interdisciplinary development and competence environment in the region to draw on, within both R&D, technology, and business development, it becomes attractive to collaborate with Sensor Innovation", the project manager believes.
 
TOBB has several new housing projects where the products will be valuable both in the construction phase and in the operational phase, but they also manage over 1,000 housing companies where they assist with technical management. Sensor Innovation's products can also be installed in existing buildings, providing housing companies with monitoring of, for example, roofs and balconies. In addition to the assurance that the roofs are watertight, this could provide both longer lifespan and savings in terms of maintenance carried out based on actual rather than estimated needs.

Urban collaboration as an additional incentive

Since 2009, TOBB has also been involved in an urban collaboration, together with Bate in Stavanger, Usbl in Oslo, Vestbo and BOB in Bergen, Nobl in Bodø, and BONORD in Tromsø and Harstad. In addition to the development of, among other things, shared IT systems and cooperation on insurance, there is also potential in the fact that the parties in the collaboration can exchange experiences and technological innovations that enhance the quality of the housing.

For Sensor Innovation, this collaboration is like an incentive that may become within reach in the near future.

­"It is clear that for a player like Sensor Innovation, there may be significant opportunities in urban collaboration when the other actors also become more familiar with the technology and concept. It is realistic to believe that several housing cooperatives will show interest and offer the sensor system when we at TOBB have harvested and shared even more experiences", concludes Jermstad.

Important focus on life cycle cost

"For us, partners like TOBB, with the development culture and collaborative attitudes they demonstrate at all levels, are crucial to succeeding with new and innovative products", says Tor Ove Nesset at Sensor Innovation.

The company has experienced that TOBB has been clear about their goals with the collaboration from day one. This has now resulted in a framework agreement with TOBB and their partners in development projects, contractor networks, and management organizations, aimed at ensuring sustainable buildings with long lifespans and predictable operating costs.

"TOBB is a prime example of an organization focusing on life cycle costs in a sustainability perspective", Nesset concludes.