At Cohabs, our purpose is to shape a better tomorrow by improving the way we live today.
Our houses give people with similar intentions, interests, and values the possibility to share spaces and create memories. As such, we can promote a sense of community within the individuals living with us and contribute to a much larger cause too: our planet.
The sustainable city
By 2030, there will be 1.2 billion[1] more of us and about three in four will be living in the city. This means our planet will be under even more pressure than today. Urban space is getting scarce, the cost of housing is rising, as the carbon footprint, and resources are going down.
Meanwhile, there are many old-style houses that aren’t being used
—or at least not to their full potential.
This is why we believe in building a better tomorrow from our point of view. Resurrecting forgotten places to bring life to them again.
Every house is a new chapter of our story.
The future of living
The better use of space in a coliving house, the lower demand for resources, and the higher potential to be flexible with people’s needs. Coliving spaces can help reduce carbon emissions and lower the demand for material in its construction by removing useless space and supports more sustainable urban living through the sense of community.
We’re not only talking about sharing resources here but also working together to create more sustainable activities such as urban gardening or composting. Because to truly move the coliving concept to a sustainable level, it’s necessary to create awareness and consciousness.
How we build a better tomorrow
We at Cohabs try to use as few resources as we can and limit our environmental impact in every way possible. Among other things, we make sure our houses have sustainable appliances:
- Solar panels (on six of our houses, since some of the roofs are not adapted),
- Smart energy monitoring tools such as temperature controllers,
- Motion sensor detectors for the lights and,
- Water controllers in our shower
- Intelligent water monitoring with Shayp
On top of that, most of our furniture is bought on the second-hand market, a great way to stylishly furnish your home in a more sustainable way. Plus, we want to surround ourselves with pieces that spark conversation, celebrate craftsmanship and bring soul to spaces.
Some of our members grow their own vegetables and herbs —just look at Chatelain 27, Ambiorix 55 or Louise 86 and 88 — and most of them compost their waste.
All our members receive a Welcome Pack in the form of a tote bag containing a water bottle, recycled pen, and more —things that will stay with them, even after their stay with us.
Throughout the houses you’ll find several wooden panels to educate our members about, among other things, sustainable living.
On top of that, we organize ‘green events’ such as zero waste workshops or online video workshops, and share articles and tips & tricks about the topic in our Cohabs mobile App.
Our members can also order a ‘Green Pack’, containing everything you need to live a sustainable daily life —think a solid shampoo bar, solid soap bar, eco-friendly and socially-responsible toothpaste, a bamboo toothbrush, a reusable bamboo cotton bud and other ‘green’ goods.
Let’s go for carbon-neutral
Our coliving spaces already share essential resources such as gas and electricity. By sharing these resources, we can reduce energy consumption and ensure a reduced carbon footprint. But we want to do more! That’s why we’re auditing our several houses to calculate and further reduce our carbon footprint by for example using new materials or designing our common spaces differently.
Our objective: become carbon -neutral as soon as possible.
[1] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/SPEECH_10_532
