Building efficiently? Mars is the ultimate lean project

Suppose we know with 100% certainty that the world is going to end. Then we must go to Mars. Only Mars is not the goal in this fantasy, writes Pim van Meer in this Pims Maze. Mars is the magnifying glass for our way of doing things now.

My boss, Daan van der Vorm, the owner of Vorm Holding asked me, "Write about living on Mars." But you don't go to Mars because our Elon wants to foist a space trip on you. You only go to Mars because apparently we don't really move until physics gives us a deadline. We only experience a sense of urgency when the world is literally on fire. Now don't say we feel the sense of urgency and then go on merrily with the delusion of the day.

And yes, this column began as a wish, from our Elon Musk. But actually it's not about rockets. This is about the Netherlands, about housing, about when you've really understood data-driven work, and you've proven that you're allowed to go to Mars.

Because Mars is the ultimate lean project. No margin for waste. No hassle with we try again. There, only one design question applies: how do you build in such a way that people can stay alive, objectively testable at the top with minimal resources and maximum lifespan. Building and modular construction, otherwise not.

Suppose we apply the Mars logic here NOW. First the ethics: who gets a ticket at all? You only send parties who show they take responsibility over the full life cycle. Not just deliver, but maintain, modify, dismantle. Only building concepts that are modular, inspectable, repairable. Only material combinations that make sense for energy, health AND reuse, not just for the brochure.

On Mars, really good insulation is not a wish but a precondition. Heat loss there is not an energy label discussion, but a mortality risk. So you build gap-tight, cold bridge-free, hyper-insulated - and you measure it. If we knew we were going to Mars, we would build much more energy responsibly tomorrow. Here on Earth, we still sometimes pretend that drafts have character. The house breathes, we then say. Yes: your money out the door.

Water on Mars is not a service, but a system. Every drop is reused, not because that sounds nice in a manifesto, but because otherwise you will dry out while your manifesto is still wet from the printer. Here we flush drinking water down the toilet because it's cheap, and then are surprised when drought suddenly turns out not to be a theoretical risk. Mars would find that childish.

Material use there automatically becomes fair. Every kilo you send up must do something. Preferably more than one thing. Waste is not a cost but harshly punished stupidity. Here we accept failure costs and double logistics as if they were laws of nature. As if it's just there at belongs That we draw things three times, order them twice and throw them away once. We have been debating the logic of masonry for years but little changes. Mars simply pulls the plug for that behavior.

And then the design itself. On Mars you build modular, demountable and maintainable. Everything has to be openable, adaptable, replaceable. Not because circular is a trendy word, but because you have no choice. Here we still often act as if a home is a finished product. As if residents never change life stages and installations last forever. When things go wrong we call it management challenges instead of design errors. Here we talk about circularity but do we act accordingly?

And aesthetics? Mars does not ban beauty. It shifts the order. First program, health, energy, maintainability, flexibility, material passports, comfort. Only then the question of how it looks. Not: it has to look like 1930s, otherwise it won't sell. But: does it meet the performance requirements, is it legible, human, not anonymous? After that, you get to play with rhythm, texture, color. Aesthetics no longer become an excuse to hide poor performance and a program that just doesn't fit. Aesthetics is an extra layer on top of a correct sum.

And somewhere there chafes the real ethical question: when have you proven that you are allowed to go to Mars? Not when you have made the most beautiful render, but when you show that your building still makes sense after twenty, thirty, fifty years. That you've thought about real integrality beforehand! Maintenance, replacement, real adaptation. That you don't build to get away with the minimum requirement, but to put up a system that doesn't saddle others with your negligence.

Mars also forces us to be socially mature. Living there is by definition a team sport. If someone doesn't clean the filters, everyone else breathes in the results. If someone skimped on maintenance, everyone feels it. You can't hide behind that the chain. Here, we often want the freedom of individual choice, but not the discipline of collective agreements - until things go wrong, and we all stare in amazement at the industry modes.

So, Daan van der VORM, Mars is a fantastic theme! Mars is the magnifying glass that shows that we are already technically far beyond our behavior. That we need (very serious) pain to embrace real change. We do have the knowledge to insulate better, use water smarter, create material passports, build in a demountable way and define aesthetics differently. The question is not whether we can do it. The question is whether we dare to oblige - on ourselves.

Filing moment

We like to talk about futures, but if we are honest, Mars would not give us a ticket today. Not because we don't have the technology, but because we too often choose drama over responsibility.

And that is perhaps the most painful insight: it is not gravity that holds us back, but our own willingness to finally start living as if urgency is not science fiction.

About Pim's digital maze

In this column, Pim takes you into the sometimes wonderful, tangled but rapidly changing world of digitization. He draws on his experiences as director of digitalization at VORM. Pim is outspoken, critical, but above all wants to help you. Are you stuck in the digital maze? Pim helps you find the way out.... Do you have a question for Pim or are you looking to get in touch with him? Follow Pim on LinkedIN.