Langeveld Building, the newest building on Erasmus University Rotterdam's Woudestein campus, has been rated with a BREEAM-NL score of 91.5% by Dutch Green Building Council (DGBC). This officially makes it the second most sustainable education building in the Netherlands according to the BREEAM-NL standard. On Tuesday 21 November, the certificate was officially presented to Ellen van Schoten, vice-chairman of the Executive Board, and Eric Moleman, director of BAM Bouw en Techniek.
Inspiration to others
"It is quite exciting when you ask the market to create an energy-efficient education building that is climate-adaptive, circular and 'green' at the same time," says Ellen van Schoten (EUR). "We wanted to create an environment where students and staff feel at home and can get the best out of themselves. Our sustainability ambitions were very high and the predicate 'BREEAM-NL Outstanding' a requirement. I am extremely proud that we were able to achieve this together with BAM Bouw en Techniek and their team. They did their utmost to achieve the high score of 91.5%. This makes Langeveld Building one of the top 5 most sustainable educational buildings in Europe. We hope this will inspire others to realise sustainable buildings that contribute to a better world."
Team effort
With the construction of Langeveld Building, the university wanted to achieve results on the sustainability themes of health, energy and circularity, focusing on integrality. EUR challenged the market to contribute expertise, creativity and innovation to achieve the maximum achievable. BAM Bouw en Techniek, together with B-Corp architectural firm Paul de Ruiter Architects, Halmos Advisors, LBP|Sight and landscape architect Buro Harro, managed to achieve those ambitions and even exceeded the required score of 90%. "This means that right from the tendering phase, we put maximum effort into an integral approach and constructive cooperation to meet the requirements," says Eric Moleman (BAM). "Because only as a team can you achieve this kind of exceptional performance."
"The score 'Outstanding' is the highest achievable according to the BREEAM-NL certification method"
Annemarie Van Doorn
director DGBC
Extra credits for innovation
BREEAM-NL assesses building performance based on criteria ranging from energy, ecology and waste to health, materials and water. To meet the requirements, standards are defined that are tested during and after construction. In addition to these standards, innovative concepts can be brought in and are rewarded. For Langeveld Building, the innovative and revolutionary ventilation concept 'Powered by Nature' was submitted. Because this concept is not a standard part of the BREEAM-NL requirements, but does contribute to an energy-neutral building, extra points were awarded.
Thanks in part to this extra innovation credit, Langeveld Building achieved a high score within the BREEAM-NL system for sustainable real estate. "'Outstanding' score is the highest achievable according to the BREEAM-NL certification method," said Annemarie Van Doorn, DGBC director, during the presentation. "The joint effort has resulted in an integrally sustainable building with the maximum score on 4 out of 9 categories."
- More information
Mirjam Renting, Persvoorlichter Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam
press@eur.nl / 06 281 72 773- Related content
