Text | Chen Shiqi
Edit | Jiang Xinheng
The construction industry is an industry with significant social influence, accounting for 40% of the total energy use and 30% of the world's total waste, of which the responsibility of concrete-related enterprises is particularly significant. Global construction demand is expected to increase by 70% over the next 10 years. Given these numbers, many are looking for ways to sustainably develop the construction industry. In recent years, the discussion of sustainability has mainly revolved around energy consumption, but now people are beginning to pay more full attention to the building life cycle and materials. How the remaining building materials generated in the renovation of new houses and old houses are processed may be paid little attention to.
The 58th issue of "See new power" interviewed the winner of the 2021 Alibaba Gods Battle "5G + Internet of Things" track global finals winner- HOMA founder and CEO Lin Peini, to learn about their innovation and thinking in the field of circular economy of building materials.
Multicultural build creative teams
“Great things inbusiness are never done by one person. They are done by a team of like mindedpeople that pursue the same vision.” (Business matters are never done by one person.) They were accomplished by a group of like-minded people who pursued the same vision. This is the philosophy that HOMA adheres to.
HOMA was founded in 2017 by PennieLim with the goal of making home improvement an affordable agenda. The 16-man champion team from a variety of backgrounds has grown to create an enviable and unique company culture that is poised for strong growth.
HOMA's founder and CEO, Pei nim Lam, holds a Bachelor of Operations Management degree from the University of South Australia and has 14 years of experience in marketing building products.
"I've been in the industry for 14 years and many of my clients from the construction industry face the same problem." Lin Peini has seen too many such problems, and after the project is over, the project will always produce a lot of "garbage". But she believes that one person's garbage may be a treasure for another. "The goal of HOMA is to create a link between the seller and the buyer through this 'junk.'"
Lin Peini said that she and HUMA co-founder and COO, James Yeoh, have more than 14 years of insight and experience in the building materials market. The team from Southeast Asia currently has 16 members from all walks of life, with different backgrounds and diverse cultures, making HOMA's internal communication more active and creative.
"As a disruptor, it's going to be a tough path because no one has tried it before we're exploring a path." The road is long and obstructed, and the road is coming, and Lin Peini is very firm about the path she has chosen.
Focus on the circular economy of the construction industry
The circular economy is a closed-loop system of resources where there is no waste – all materials are preserved and used to some extent as inputs for new production. This process can be achieved through careful design, maintenance, reuse, remanufacturing, refurbishment and recycling of the product. In order to do this, the disassembly design is an important link. The basic idea is to design each product so that it can be easily broken down into individual parts or material components, making it easier to use these parts in similar products or to reuse these materials in new products. This ensures that the value and resources of materials are always maintained and can be kept away from landfills, minimizing the use of natural resources and negative impacts on the environment.
The circular economy is committed to the interests of all earthlings. The circular economy in the construction industry has proven to be more challenging than other industries. This is due to many factors, such as the variable scale or low repeatability of construction projects, complex investor structures, or end-user needs. The long turnaround times of buildings are another complicating factor. However, it is undeniable that the construction industry is under pressure to think new and innovate, and this pressure is having an impact on the value chain of the entire industry, from construction companies and designers to construction component suppliers such as Peck.
Lin Peini and her team believe that productivity standards in the construction industry have not evolved for the past 25 years. Inefficiencies coupled with huge resource requirements make construction the most destructive human activity. "We need to look at the circular economy in the entire construction industry, from construction technology, to down-cycle and up-cycle."
Southeast Asia's first circular economy platform for the construction industry
According to Lim, HOMA is the first platform in Southeast Asia to focus on affordability and sustainability, providing building materials and home improvement surplus products.
As a platform for providing affordable, sustainable building materials and home improvement products, HOMA has always pursued differentiation. According to Lin Peini, HOMA is a company dedicated to promoting a circular economy in the construction industry, in particular encouraging the reuse of surplus building materials generated during the construction process and in the manufacturer's backlog inventory. HOMA's goal is to penetrate the $40 billion home improvement market by encouraging buyers to buy backlogs of materials, while reducing environmental degradation.
By reducing, reusing, and re-adjusting, HOMA hopes that families can become advocates for a circular economy in the construction industry, and that the remaining vacant land is also a good place to integrate surplus resources.
Home renovation has great market potential. For example, assuming that 1% market penetration is equal to $400 million, and a small renovation costs $15,000, which is equivalent to reusing at least 30,000 homes, then this is a multi-hundred million super market.
"We hope that the company will expand to China and other regions and become part of the industry ecology." Lin Peini said that at present, HOMA is focusing on opening up the Chinese market. In the process, HOMA was able to meet the Alibaba Cloud Innovation Center, "We expect to gain more regional exposure and learn more in the competition." "Through the competition, HOMA hopes to gain more expertise and related resources.
The construction industry is a large resource consumer, and it should save resources and make full use of resources through the path of circular economy to achieve the purpose of protecting the living environment of human beings. The circular economy is only part of sustainable development. HOMA hopes to create a market for refurbishment and reuse, not only to save costs, but also to address waste and sustainability. "We dare to dream, dare to be different." The long road is long, and Lin Peini and HOMA's steps are becoming more and more determined.