BREEAM

BREEAM-NL New Construction and Renovation is the hallmark in the Netherlands for assessing new construction projects and large-scale renovations on sustainability performance. Buildings are assessed on nine different sustainability topics, including energy, water, materials and waste. BREEAM stands for Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method and was originally developed and introduced by the Building Research Establishment (BRE), an English research organization similar to the Dutch TNO.

Among other things, the following social or economic design measures are applied in the building:

• The design of the building ensures that there is sufficient daylight access within the residential areas for visual comfort and well-being of guests, partly due to the presence of an atrium in the central part of the building.
• The environment, including local residents, is closely involved and informed about the state of affairs.
• Future users have had a great deal of say in how the building is realized, including through workshops.
• The design and layout of the building also has the objective of making guests aware of sustainability.

Sustainable choices in the design

Among other things, the following innovative and environmentally friendly design measures have been applied in the building:

• EPC = 0 (this is considerably lower than the building decree of EPC = 1) due to, among other things, the use of heat and cold storage in the ground, LED lighting, high insulation value in the facade, triple glazing and generation of solar energy.
• Replacing conventional concrete as much as possible with wood as a building material.
• The frequent monitoring of various consumption parameters, such as energy and water, by separate (digital) metering of all (large) users.
• The flat roof and the facades of the hotel are equipped with solar panels to generate electricity.
• 20 charging points for electric cars are integrated in the parking garage.

Process and organization

In the initial phase of the design, a construction team was put together, in which both the contractor and the installer were already involved in the design. This has resulted in an efficient building process that could also be used to control costs. Integration of the disciplines was a challenge, but the result is something to be proud of.

The formal BREEAM certification process started later (in the completion phase of the design). This was possible because the design itself already had a high degree of sustainability. Most BREEAM points could therefore naturally be achieved.