Homeservices by the Factory of Tomorrow



The core questions of the project were:

• Which services (Homeservices) can be offered by the housing sector, either directly, or in co-operation with service providers and janitors?
  
• What are the potential benefits for the environment and labour market?
  
• What obstacles hinder the supply?
  
• What are the necessary framework conditions?
  
  
  

To answer these questions, the following work steps were taken:

• State of the art assessment of technical, informational, mobility, environmental and social services in Vienna, that can or could be provided or recommended by the housing sector;
  
• Assessment of consumer acceptance of concepts for shared use by tenants in apartment buildings, especially with regard to mobility (car sharing, rent a bike, other transport), energy (Heating, cooling, warm water, renewable energy), cleaning (cleaning, washing, ironing), maintenance (maintenance, repair), renting (tools, gardening equipment), security (emergency call, monitoring, fire safety) and care taking (sick and elderly people, kindergarten, study groups);
  
• Analysis of promoting and hindering factors to the supply of innovative apartment buildings with widespread service supply from the view of architects and the housing sector as well as assessment of representative pilot projects.;
  
• Analysis of effects on employment and social impact of these shared use and person related concepts;
  
• Analysis of cost aspects, especially of the transferability of contracting concepts into the consumer sector (one and two family houses) and the prerequisites for all encompassing facility management of apartment blocks;
  
• Benchmarking for the housing sector as supplier and promoter of services;
  
• Development of an ideal scenario, policy recommendations;
  
• catalogue of sustainable services in Vienna on the web;
  
• dissemination of results.
  
  

Results:

We assume that a market for services directed towards households and individuals exists, but that it has to be accessed through innovative concepts. Due to the proximity to the tenants, the housing sector, and particularly the public housing agencies, could offer this type of services, thus improving their position with regard to private housing providers. The housing sector may play a key role in promoting sustainable patterns of technical, knowledge- or mobility-oriented and personal services by:

• initiating these services
  
• offering these services in co-operation with small and medium-size service providers and
  
• creating the structural framework for offering these services.
  
  

To ensure an all encompassing evaluation of the service supply, three actor groups - the external service providers, the housing organisations and the residents - were targeted.

The majority of external service providers concentrate on the classical service areas such as cleaning, repairs, mobility, and care taking. Traditional social providers are generally municipalities or subsidized nonprofit associations. Within the traditional environmental service providers like carsharing and organic food deliverers, the social aspect is mostly neglected. The few social and environmental service providers usually have no connection to the housing organizations. The typical building services, such as cleaning and maintenance, usually do not fulfill either social or environmental criteria. External service providers usually bill by the amount of use. Consulting and care taking providers usually cannot cover costs, hence these services usually are provided by public or the nonprofit organizations. Subsidies for these organizations exist in some cases. Service providers can offer re-entrance for long-time unemployed people, however the employee must be flexible in working times, location, and further training. Since primary services are the norm, it is not possible to quantify the environmental benefits. Areas where this is possible is in repairs and mobility.

The supply of services by the housing organizations is restricted to their core business. Consulting is primarily for buying, furnishing, and financing apartments. Care taking of children, the elderly, or handicapped is supported by supplying the necessary infrastructure, such as a kindergarten, a doctor’s practice, and social services. The infrastructure for leisure time, such as playing areas, pools, etc, are provided by the housing organizations. Cleaning and maintenance belong to the core business of the organizations. To promote communication and information, common rooms, black boards and white boards are provided. For mobility, car parking areas, bicycle racks and baby stroller parking areas are provided. In the service area of supply, warmth and hot water are supplied. Waste disposal is provided as prescribed by law, but usually only to a minimal degree (paper container). The Best Practice examples have a significantly better infrastructure and management than described here.

The residents/consumers do not go out of their normal daily routine to find environmentally friendly services. Social services are only used when absolutely necessary. To be accepted, these services must be as comfortable to use and may not cost more than the traditional service or product. Hence, the main goal is to increase comfort with these services. Other positive effects are welcome but only secondary.

The most important result is the need for information exchange between the external service providers and the housing organizations. Both of these industries can benefit from cooperation, and gain market share by doing so, since it is anticipated that in the near future, residents will not only demand living space but also an attached service package.

The Project was funded by the Ministry of Transportation, Innovation and Technology in the framework of the project “Factorry of Tomorrow”. Duration of the project was 12 months (September 2001 to August 2002).

The project is funded by the programme factory of tomorrow from the Austrian Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation, and Technology.