For Episode 40 of the Bao Podcast, we welcome Noor Huitema-Hellemans, co-founder of Copper8, a consultancy helping organizations rethink value, governance, and collaboration.Based in Amsterdam, Copper8 challenges businesses to move beyond short-term profit and focus on long-term impact. Their work bridges research and practice, supporting clients in sectors like construction, finance, and manufacturing to drive systemic change.In this episode, we explore what it takes to lead a purpose-driven co...
May 16, 2025•45 min
Episode 39 of the Bao Podcast is a special episode - first, because it’s the first podcast recorded at an external location. And second, because of our guest: a man who needs no introduction... but I’ll give him one anyway - Thomas Rau! As founder of RAU Architects, Turntoo and Madaster, Thomas is a visionary thinker who challenges the way we design, build, and use materials. His concept of material passports and circular construction is reshaping the industry, proving that buildings should be s...
Apr 17, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 39
For episode 38 of the Bao Podcast, we welcome 2 people: Kostas Anastasiades & Ben Moins. Both are senior researchers at the faculty of Applied Engineering at the University of Antwerp. They are also linked to the service platform B.Cycle where Kostas serves as an expert on circularity and Ben is the program manager focussing on sustainability. Both of them are writing and doing a lot of research on circularity, recycling and waste management, sustainability assessment and much more. At Bao L...
Mar 19, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 38
Lieven is the CEO of Lito and has already participated in the Bao Podcast almost 2 years ago, and is now back for part 2. He and his team managed to develop the ‘Litobox’: which contains every component you need for heating and cooling your house and for making domestic hot water. It combines a ventilation system that guarantees air quality, a rainwater purification system, the indoor components for a photovoltaic installation and an electrical switchboard with internet equipment. Optionally, a ...
Feb 16, 2025•59 min•Ep. 37
For Episode 36 of the Bao Podcast, we introduce you to Pieter-Jan Loyens, the Managing Director of Encon. This is an agency, based in Bilzen, that supports businesses with creative and innovative solutions in their transition toward becoming more sustainable. They distinguish themselves through their unique combination of ecology and economy, linking environmental awareness with cost savings and profitability for their clients.In recent years, they have built a strong market position with this a...
Jan 27, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 36
For episode 35 of the Bao Podcast, we invited Anneleen Desmyter, the CEO of Yally. This is an innovative company based in Antwerp that’s redefining property management with a future-focused approach. Yally’s mission centers around buying homes and transforming them into energy-efficient, tenant-friendly spaces. As a forward-thinking landlord, Yally prioritizes both comfort and affordability for tenants, using smart technology to cut down on energy costs and provide an all-inclusive service throu...
Nov 12, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 35
For episode 34 of the Bao Podcast, we invited once again a familiar face. He was one of our first guests, and is back today: Arne Allewaert. Arne is a co-founder and Managing Partner at AMAVI Capital. AMAVI is a fully independent investment fund with a pan-European scope, established to support the growth of the leading and most promising scale-ups active in the PropTech industry. AMAVI bridges the traditional real estate industry on the one hand and European PropTech scale-ups on the other. AMA...
Sep 22, 2024•56 min
After a nice summer break we’re back with a new episode with a familiar face: Chris Van de Voorde! Chris is the founder of JuuNoo, a company based in the Kortrijk area, but which is already active on the other side of the ocean. Chris runs Belgium's fastest-growing sustainable company. With JuuNoo, he develops demountable walls, a beautiful story of Belgian circularity that is now also being sold in America. The company has grown tremendously since Chris’ last visit to the Bao Podcast. Therefore...
Aug 12, 2024•50 min•Ep. 33
For episode 32 of the Bao Podcast, we invited a familiar face! Sunita Van Heers returns for a second episode. She’s the founder and managing director of SuReal. SuReal is a consultancy firm that supports companies and government agencies in making buildings and city projects more sustainable. Through a multitude of services such as studies, certification and project guidance in multiple fields (ESG, water, energy, waste, ecology), they guarantee an integrated and sustainable result. All this wit...
May 13, 2024•1 hr 9 min
For episode 31 of the Bao Podcast, we invited Thomas Vandenbergh. Armed with a PhD in Engineering, Thomas is General manager of Besix Technology and CEO of BESIX STAY. These 2 enterprises are part of the BESIX Group. BESIX is a renowned global player in the construction and real estate development industry, based in Brussels. It has already completed impressive projects such as the Burj Khalifa, the European Parliament and many others.
Apr 11, 2024•57 min
For episode 30 of the Bao Podcast, we invited Dennis Vangeneugden. Kepler is a new player in the housing market that introduces a new housing standard in terms of technology and energy. With an Energy Level of -15, KEPLER homes are extremely energy efficient that save consumers up to €3,000 annually on energy. Kepler's homes are built in a workshop in timber frame, and delivered to the site 48 days after the start of the project. With this innovative idea, they managed to turn an immediate conso...
Mar 13, 2024•54 min
For episode 29 of the Bao Podcast, we have another dual-guest episode for you, featuring Michael Lefeber and Ken Spranghers, co-founders of KOZO. Kozo designs and builds spaces that adapt to the people who buy them. Whenever something changes in their life, their house can change with them. Kozo’s innovative construction method ensures that you can choose to adapt your home. A small starter home can grow into a fully-fledged family home and then even evolve into a care home. On top of this, thei...
Feb 11, 2024•53 min
Episode 28 of the Bao Podcast marks a special occasion as we host our first-ever dual-guest episode featuring Peter Bertels, CTO, and Wim Pieters, CEO of CIRCL. CIRCL is reshaping the housing landscape with fixed-price, future-oriented single-family homes. Their unique approach integrates circularity and digitalization throughout the construction process. From digital design to a remarkable six-week construction period post-permit approval, CIRCL is at the forefront of efficiency and sustainabil...
Jan 11, 2024•48 min
For episode 27 of the Bao Podcast, we invite Regina Zirion. Regina is Head of Sales at Cutr. Regina was born and raised in Mexico, she studied and worked there until she moved to Amsterdam in 2018. She worked for Uber from 2016, first in Mexico-City and from 2018 onwards in Amsterdam until she left the company in 2021 to join Cutr. Cutr is an Amsterdam-based company that was founded in 2021. At Cutr, experts from two worlds come together: software engineering and woodworking. As a team, they wor...
Nov 27, 2023•1 hr 4 min
For episode 26, we invite Patrick Nijssen. Patrick is Head of Growth Benelux at NORNORM. NORNORM is a Danish company that was founded in 2020 by former IKEA manager Anders Jespen as well as investor and Skype co-creator Jonas Kjellberg. With 10 million tonnes of office furniture ending up in landfills every year in Europe alone, the founders aim to apply the circular economy model to office furniture by having companies subscribe to furniture instead of buying it. The company looks to create a f...
Oct 02, 2023•53 min
For our anniversary episode, number 25, we do a part 2 with one of our guests for the first time ever. He was our very first guest and now he's back: Idriss Goossens! Idriss has not stood still since the last episode, 2 and a half years ago. Today he's not only co-founder of PropTech Lab Belgium, but he also founded LuxPropTech, Relevation and RecAp, this last one is a joint venture between PropTech Lab and developer Revive. This may be a lot for you to take in, but the most important thing is t...
Aug 30, 2023•46 min
For episode 24 of the Bao Podcast, we welcome Minne Warmenbol. Minne is a master in Architecture and co-founded BUURMAN 3 years ago. BUURMAN Antwerp is a circular construction market where reused building materials from the region are collected, processed and offered. In this way, they offer a logical and local alternative to burning or low-grade recycling of good materials. The materials come from all kinds of different parties - from museums to demolition companies - that are unable to repurpo...
Jul 01, 2023•55 min
For episode 23 of the Bao Podcast, we welcome Simon Maillet. Simon is the Group Sustainability Officer of Cordeel Group. He’s originally from Germany and today lives in Belgium since almost 5 years. He did an apprenticeship as an industrial clerk and later studied economics part-time. He is now active at Cordeel for amost one year. The Cordeel Group, a leading European construction company based in Belgium, offers comprehensive services for the entire construction process. It consists of several...
May 30, 2023•1 hr 5 min
For episode 22 of the Bao Podcast, we welcome Ismaël Ben-Al-Lal. Ismaël is a visionary entrepreneur and innovator who made a name for himself in the world of renewable energy. After he finished his studies at Groep T at the University of Leuven, Ismaël went on to found his own company, Futech, in 2008. Later on he started another company named iLumen. Both companies work around sustainable energy. In addition to this, he’s an investor and consultant. This way he can share his expertise and insig...
Apr 30, 2023•57 min
Lieven is CEO of Lito. He and his team managed to develop the ‘Litobox’: the Litobox combines a heat pump, solar water heater, PV system, battery storage, rainwater filtering, ventilation, electrical equipment and internet network in one unit. All this on 3 square metres and placed on site in less than an hour! We at Bao Living look with admiration at this innovative product and I am happy to talk to Lieven about it.
Apr 03, 2023•1 hr 11 min
Filip is the founder of Skilpod. This is a company that builds houses using a prefab system. All parts of the houses are made in the factory, and set on site in an incredibly quick way. With this, Skilpod wants to disrupt the traditional construction industry where the duration of a project takes a huge amount of time. And all this without compromising on quality!
Mar 02, 2023•58 min
Sarah is founder and CEO at Go Forest. Go Forest is a young company, established in 2020 that plants trees all over the world for companies and individuals who want to work towards a greener environment. Go Forest aims to restore nature by planting the right kind of trees in environments where they have positive effects on biodiversity, carbon storage, employment, livelihood, and local economy. With more than 200 companies having become clients in only 2 years time, they have had tremendously ra...
Jan 31, 2023•57 min
For our Christmas Special of the Bao Podcast, we welcomed someone very special: Axel van der Donk! Axel is CTO and co-founder at Bao Living. We thought it would be fun to dedicate an episode to what we do here at Bao Living and the learnings of the past 5 years. So I invited my partner in crime Axel to discuss it together.
Jan 01, 2023•1 hr 9 min
For episode 17 of the Bao Podcast, we had the honour to welcome Kristof De Jaeger. Kristof is the director of Inhout, a company specialising in timber frame construction. Here they focus on sustainable business using bio-ecological materials. Since 2020, they have also been making modular homes, under the name of Mobble. This is the result of a collaboration with the University of Ghent. These houses, 'Mobbles', are also made from sustainable materials (wood frame with bio-ecological insulation ...
Nov 25, 2022•53 min
Özturk Taspinar works at KPMG as Digital Innovation Consultant and is very passionate about entrepreneurship, innovation and anything that’s digital such as AI, Blockchain, robotics et cetera. With the ever-growing PropTech industry that's closing the gap between construction and the digital world, he’s the perfect guest for our Bao Podcast to tell us more about this interesting industry.
Oct 27, 2022•56 min
For the last episode of this season, our guest is Margaux Lespagnard. Margaux is a PhD researcher at VUB - Vrije Universiteit Brussel - in architectural engineering. In her research, she aims to develop circular design guidance for architects when designing circular affordable housing. She does this under supervision of engineer-architects Niels De Temmerman and Waldo Galle. Her research obviously leans very closely to what we want to achieve at Bao Living, so we thought it would be interesting ...
Jul 03, 2022•56 min
Johan is director of Madaster Belgium. This Dutch company developed a digital materials passport for buildings. This passport is a crucial link to make circular building possible. It’s a digital platform where users can list all the materials that are in a building. This information is enriched, among other things, with product data and commodity prices, and related to regulations and certification methods.
Jun 09, 2022•1 hr 10 min
In the 13th episode of the Bao Podcast, we welcome Xavier Leclair. Xavier is founder and CEO of Slow Cabins. This is a Belgian company that allows guests to rent cabins placed in secret locations across the countryside, and has plans to soon expand the concept throughout Belgium and Europe. These Slow Cabins are temporary eco houses that are completely self-sufficient when it comes to water and electricity provisions. In a Slow Cabin there is no internet as well, which means that you can slow do...
May 12, 2022•1 hr 1 min
In episode 12 of the Bao Podcast, we welcome Sven Grooten. Sven is one of the founders of B-architecten. Throughout the years, he started two spin-offs named B-bis and B-city. Today, B-architecten, B-bis, and B-city have grown into a combined office of more than 75 people. Each B-team has its particular focus and way of functioning, yet they all share a distinct innovative view on the variety of projects the B-platforms stand for.
Apr 21, 2022•59 min
For our podcast episode for the month of March, our guest is Jérôme Constant. Jérôme is managing partner at Rise PropTech Fund, a venture capital fund dedicated to Late-Seed and Series A startups active in the PropTech sector. They invest in companies that have the ambition and potential to change the construction & real estate industry in Europe. Recently, they made their first investment in the company LEKO Labs. For more information, please visit https://riseproptech.eu/.
Mar 29, 2022•35 min
