Belgian expert visits Granlund in innovative knowledge exchange programme

15.8.2025 – Ben Bogaert spent six months at Granlund, helping the Finnish and UK teams with district heating projects.

Ben Bogaert from Ingenium and Oskari Fagerström from Granlund

Ben Bogaert is a Project Engineer, Energy at Ingenium, an engineering company in Belgium. He just spent six months at Granlund in Finland in a talent exchange programme.

“I’m interested in low-carbon district heating networks,” Bogaert explains. “There are some in Belgium–for example, I studied a waste heat system at a Ghent steel plant for my master’s degree–but the industry is underdeveloped compared to the Nordics. I wanted to learn more about district heating and specifically low-carbon energy solutions for cities and large sites.”

Granlund and Ingenium are members of the First Q Network, a group of MEP design and consultancy companies across 15 European countries. First Q promotes talent and knowledge exchange between companies.

“It is important to share knowledge and best practices,” says Oskari Fagerström, Group Manager, District Energy Solutions at Granlund. “Ingenium and Granlund are not in the same markets and have different specialties, so it was great to have Ben’s fresh perspective on our team.”

Learning about heat in a cold country

“Granlund is a big company and offers a large set of services to clients,” Bogaert continues. “I wanted to discover these services and how Granlund is structured as a larger company. Also, I am interested in their innovations and new services, such as adopting AI and digitalisation.”

He wanted to come to Finland due to the country’s long experience in district heating. The cold climate has a significant impact on how buildings are designed and operated.

“Finland is a frontrunner in the decarbonisation of the building stock,” Bogaert says. “Finland has a high deployment of heat pumps, uses electric boilers and has many low-carbon supply options in district heating.”

I wanted to learn more about district heating and specifically low-carbon energy solutions for cities and large sites.
Ben Bogaert, Project Engineer, Energy at Ingenium

Modelling and workflow improvements

Bogaert worked on a team focusing on regional energy solutions and developing master plans for cities, districts and large sites. He was able to immerse himself not only in the Finnish market, but also in the UK industry. He helped the Granlund UK team with district heating feasibility studies for cities, as the UK government is heavily promoting low-carbon solutions.

“It was great to have Ben on our team,” Fagerström says. “He was involved in most of the tasks of a typical heat network project. He had valuable contributions to the projects and to the team spirit. Our Finnish and UK teams were very happy with him.”

Bogaert helped to improve models and implement knowledge from Belgium into the workflow in Finland, such as using some technical tools to increase time efficiency.

Teams are open and inclusive with a diverse group of people.
Ben Bogaert, Project Engineer, Energy at Ingenium

Granlund work inspirational

The Finnish working culture is a bit different to what Bogaert experiences in Belgium. He likes how teams are open and inclusive with a diverse group of people. He also notes how there is a lot of freedom to determine your weekly schedule, but this also means there is more responsibility.

“I like the high focus on employee wellbeing, such as having a masseuse come to the office and having minigolf in the break room,” says Bogaert. “Also, I love the custom of having pastries together every Wednesday.

“In Belgium, the Nordics have a reputation of being a closed society. In Finland, and at Granlund in particular, I experienced quite the opposite. I received a warm welcome and had a nice time with the people in the office. People are very kind and interested in what I am doing here in Finland. In general, it’s been very inspirational to work at Granlund and live in Finland.”