Our crane system Conhoist creates a better working environment on the construction site. At the same time, the system addresses a systematic challenge that we believe Conhoist can be part of the solution to.
Can we develop and invent our way to a better future - or do we simply have to stop inventing and consuming?
We asked about this in the post ”Inventions with meaning: Is it planetary responsible to invent something new?”
In this post, we take a closer look at Conhoist's place in that question.
A battery-powered crane system that makes it more efficient to renovate under scaffolding. It is Conhoist in a nutshell.
The system was developed with occupational health and safety in mind: it aims to reduce the amount of heavy lifting that construction workers do on site.
Because the system is compact and battery-powered, it also has the side effect of using less diesel in the combustion engines of traditional cranes on site when Conhoist is part of the process.
In a larger perspective, the system makes it more competitive to renovate buildings. We are industrialising the renovation process, so to speak.
We can't yet say for sure how big the effect will be. But hopefully the tool will contribute to some buildings being renovated instead of being demolished and rebuilt. And ultimately, that's a saving that's tangible.
FACTS: The planetary boundaries
The concept of planetary boundaries describes the ecological framework that humanity must stay within to maintain Earth's stability and resilience.
- Climate change How much greenhouse gas the atmosphere can tolerate before climate change becomes unstable and self-reinforcing.
- Loss of biodiversity - How many species and ecosystems can be lost before nature's functions break down.
- Changes in land use - Especially deforestation and cultivation of natural areas that affect carbon cycles and biodiversity.
- Biogeochemical cycles The amount of nitrogen and phosphorus entering ecosystems through agriculture and industry.
- Freshwater consumption - How much freshwater humans can use without drying up rivers, lakes and groundwater reserves.
- Ocean acidification - the chemical alteration of the ocean due to increased CO₂ uptake that threatens marine ecosystems.
- Atmospheric aerosols - particles from pollution that affect climate and human health.
- The ozone layer in the stratosphere - How much ozone must be depleted before UV radiation becomes dangerous to life on Earth.
- New substances and chemical pollution - such as microplastics, pesticides and heavy metals that nature cannot break down.
The latest assessment (Rockström et al., 2023) concludes that six of the nine limits have been exceeded: climate, biodiversity, land use, nitrogen/phosphorus, freshwater and emerging substances.
A systemic challenge
Of course, this doesn't mean that Conhoist is a silver bullet that solves all problems. From a climate perspective, the entire construction industry must fundamentally change. This means, among other things, that what is demolished must be reused to a greater extent and integrated into a circular system.
The industry is well underway, and with Conhoist we can help with a small corner of the big challenge.
Conhoist can't be used every time, but it's a great tool in many scenarios - for example, roof renovation, which is a big part of a building. The system is on its way to becoming a great tool that not only keeps efficiency up, but also provides better conditions for all those who work with refining recycled materials.
