Build4People

On 06 December 2024, Build4People team members provided multi-disciplinary insights into the potentials of using solar energy to support a sustainable urban transformation at the AmCam Exchange in Phnom Penh. The lecture got prepared and moderated by Prof Dr Tep Makathy, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning at Paññāsāstra University of Cambodia.

The comprehensive title of the lecture was “From consumers to prosumers: the transformative power of household renewable energy production – insights from the Build4People project”.

During the first session Dr. Michael Waibel, Leader of B4P Work Package “Sustainable Urban Transformation” gave an overall introduction about the rising global importance of renewable energies with a focus on Photovoltaic (PV) technologies. This was followed by discussing the potential of building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV), in general. During the concluding part of this session, a more detailed analysis was provided about so-called balcony power plants which will get further introduced as part of the Build4People Transformation Handbook currently under development. Balcony power plants enable households to become active producers of renewable household energy and are currently booming in Germany. Finally, their application potential to Cambodia was discussed with the audience.

During the second session, Rolf Messerschmidt, CEO of the Urban Design and Architecture Practice Eble Messerschmidt Partner and Leader of B4P Work Package “Sustainable Neigbhourhoods” explored the potential of urban neighbourhood solarisation to support sustainable development in Cambodia, guided by the Build4People Guideline for Sustainable Neighbourhood Development: Climate Protection and Energy Flows as part of the so-called Phnom Penh Capital Hall Transformation Toolbox currently under development. He highlighted practical strategies for integrating PV systems into urban areas to create energy-efficient communities. The session also explained how planning neighbourhoods with smart energy grids can enhance energy supply efficiency and increase the synergistic effect with other sustainable development aspects. Drawing on examples from Germany and Asia, he showed how PV systems can be attractively incorporated into building façades and rooftops, offering practical and visually appealing solutions for sustainable energy use in different settings. This input was jointly prepared by Rolf Messerschmidt and Nuria Roig, Urban Planner at the Urban Design and Architecture Practice Eble Messerschmidt Partner, Research Associate of the B4P WP “Sustainable Neigbhourhoods.

During the third session Andy Deuss, Junior Researcher at the Institute of Environmental Psychology of Magdeburg University and Research Associate of Build4People Work Package “Behaviour Change” presented about how to activate households as implementors of solarisation in Cambodia. He explained that by adopting residential photovoltaics (RPV), households can play an active role in Cambodia’s energy transition but showed that currently only a limited number of households have realized this potential yet. This is raising the question of what needs to be done for other households to follow their lead. Consequently he provided insights into the factors that motivate households to consider adopting RPV, based on the results of a recent Build4People study conducted in Phnom Penh. The aspects presented were then used to provide an outlook on how households can be supported in the future regarding RPV adoption, enabling them to become active stakeholders in Cambodia’s renewable energy pathway. This input was jointly prepared by Andy Deuss and Dr Anke Blöbaum, Senior Researcher at the Institute of Environmental Psychology of Magdeburg University, Leader of B4P WP “Behaviour Change”.

The three sessions were followed by a vidid discussion on how to strengthen the potential of solar energy in urban Cambodia, in general, and in particular how to convince households to adopt residential photovoltaics.

On 4 December 2024, the Science Workshop “Urban Quality of Life and the Build4People Citizen Science APP” jointly prepared and implemented by the Build4People Work Packages “Behaviour Change”, “Urban Green Infrastructures” and “Sustainable Urban Transformation” took place at the CKCC (Cambodia-Korea Cooperation Center) at Royal University of Phnom Penh.

The main objective of the workshop was to link the overarching theme of the Build4People project, namely research and enhancement of Urban Quality of Life in Phnom Penh, with the B4P Citizen Science App.

Within the Build4People project the concept of Urban Quality of Life is a guiding component of sustainable urban transformation. In accordance with this, it makes sense to approach Urban Quality of Life in two ways: an analytic research approach that asks for the relative impact of different objective and subjective factors on Urban Quality of Life, and a more normative approach, that understands sustainable transformation as an essential prerequisite for Urban Quality of Life, especially with regard to the (comprehensive) Sustainable Development Goals. 

The right to a certain quality of life has to be qualified with respect to solidarity, in order to prevent the restriction of others – this is especially the case for high density urban areas. The realization of a desired individual quality of life may happen at the expense of others (e.g. gentrification or living in gated communities). At that point, Urban Quality of Life is not only an individual project. Moreover, UQoL has to be considered as a social project. The mobile B4P Citizen Science App links the evaluation of environmental features with objective data. This makes it not only a purely analytical tool but also a valuable instrument for collaboration, enabling the citizens of Phnom Penh to participate in the design and transformation of their city.

During the workshop, the challenges and opportunities of the Citizen Science app were discussed, and the app was tested and evaluated in terms of further optimization together with research colleagues from the Royal University of Phnom Penh and motivated students.

The workshop started with a brief opening speech by Dr. Michael Waibel, coordinator of B4P Project Consortium. Then, Dr. Anke Blöbaum, leader of the B4P WP “Behaviour Change”, delivered a keynote on the Build4People Urban Quality of Life concept, and the B4P Citizen Science APP, that has been developed in cooperation with the B4P WP “Urban Green”. Dr. Chhinh Nyda introduced experiences from local Apps, and Mr. Se Bunleng presented ideas how to adapt the B4P Citizen Science App to thermal comfort measurement.

After a lively discussion, the Build4People CS App was systematically tested by students from the Royal University of Phnom Penh, the Royal University of Fine Arts, Norton University and the Kirirrom Institute of Technology on the RUPP campus.

The experiences were discussed in working groups that addressed the following questions:

1. What are important target-groups and topics for further testing of the CS App? 
2. What do you like, what needs to be improved? Were there any technical problems? 
3. How can we make the app attractive to the people of Phnom Penh so that they will use it? 

After lunch, the researchers of the Build4People team discussed the next steps for further optimizing and customizing the B4P CS App, as well as possible applications for the app as a collaborative planning and communication tool as well as a research instrument.

The Build4People team would like to sincerely thank the whole RUPP team and particularly Ms. Soviphea Chenda for their dedicated support in organizing the workshop and all participants for their strong commitment and valuable contributions.

Build4People is happy to announce that Ms. Agnes Hütte, a student of Environmental Psychology at Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, Germany, has received a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) to do research for her master’s thesis (supervised by Dr. Anke Blöbaum, Leader of Build4People Work Package “Behaviour Change”) in Cambodia. She will stay in Cambodia for three months, from November 2024 to January 2025,

Her field work will encompass, among others, conducting so-called Post-Occupancy-Evaluations which are user-centred evaluations of already designed urban built environments. The selected case site will be the large campus of Royal University of Phnom Penh.

During her stay she will get support from the Build4People colleagues at Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP), most notably from Dr. Sok Serey, Vice-Director of the Research Department of RUPP, and researcher partner of Build4People Work Package “Behaviour Change”.

Agnes is very excited to be on site and to meet members of the international research team in person, eager to contribute to the project and to gain valuable experience.

On 12 November 2024, Bunleng Se, Group Leader of Climate Change and Water Group at the Department of Geography and Land Management of the Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP) and Build4People Work Package “Urban Climate” member, was invited to give a presentation on “The Role of Urban Climate Map in Urban Development” to member of technical working groups of the Cambodian Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction (MLMUPC) to enhance their knowledge based on evidence-based scientific research.

The topic of his training session was generally about the role of urban climate maps in regard of urban development. In detail, he presented about urban climate analysis, urban climate simulation models, urban climate design strategies, guidelines for urban climate design and finally also about a case study of urban heat islands in Phnom Penh.

The knowledge of the urban climate is important to the process of the urban  design and planning  as well as the neighbourhood design. The information and knowledge of urban climatology will be taken into consideration for current and future urban planning.

This training was only the first of a series which will get further implemented by Bunleng Se with support from other Build4People team members such as Prof. Dr. Lutz Katzschner and his team from INKEK, the Institute for Climate and Energy Concepts, which is a sub-project partner within the Build4People project.