Probably the most sustainable building in the world

This landmark building was developed by OVG Real Estate opened in 2015 in the Zuidas business district in Amsterdam. It’s an innovative, 40,000 m2, multi-tenant office building with a host of sustainability features and cutting-edge facilities management technology. FutureOffice spoke to OVG Founder and CEO Coen van Oostram and the Philips team to find out more.

This ground breaking approach to office real estate development by the building owner, developer and tenant, has resulted in The Edge receiving a qualification of Outstanding from BREEAM, the world’s leading design and assessment method for sustainable buildings. Its score of 98.36%, in fact, is the highest ever awarded.

In order to really develop and build a sustainable innovation like this one, Deloitte has to want it, OVG has to dare to take it on, and Philips has to make it happen.”

- Kevin Raaijmakers, Marketing Manager, Philips

Three dimensions in making an
office building sustainable

Coen goes on to explain how energy-saving and energy-generating measures and the use of sustainable materials that will last as long as possible were pillars at the core of the building’s design.

“For the façade, everything has been done to insulate it as much possible, plus there are hundreds of other sustainable measures”
Coen van Oostram, Founder and CEO, OVG.

The measures Coen describes include thousands of square meters of solar panelling, aquifer thermal energy storage to supply all of the building’s heating and cooling needs, rainwater harvesting, and a striking 15-story atrium with state-of-the-art daylighting and natural ventilation.

We've tried to create a building with the smallest possible carbon footprint and environmental
impact.”

- Kevin Raaijmakers, Marketing Manager, Philips

The third dimension Kevin explains is to analyze the data generated by the sensors and people in the building. “The app based connected lighting system with works with the IT infrastructure, collecting data on building use to deliver high quality data for the facilities management team. They can then use the insights to make adjustments and predictions to increase the building’s efficiency and sustainability.”

Future thinking
beyond carbon neutral

But the forward thinking does not stop here, the team behind The Edge are already thinking about how sustainable office developments can go further. This building has received a BREEAM rating and achieved the highest score ever, so we can say that this is the most sustainable building in the world. But you need partners, you can't do it the traditional way. This building scored 98.36 on the sustainability index, so we're almost there. But we can go much further than 100 percent.

In the future, buildings won't just be climate-neutral, but they'll absorb CO2 so they'll be good for the environment and will actually supply energy.”

- Jim Stolze, Writer and Entrepreneur

Watch the video interview with Kevin and Coen here and to find out more about life at The Edge by reading our “Connecting with the future of office design” article or a more sustainable approach to office design by reading our “Greenest developer” and “The meaning of greening” articles.

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Probably the most sustainable building in the world

In order to really develop and build a sustainable innovation like this one, Deloitte has to want it, OVG has to dare to take it on, and Philips has to make it happen.”

- Kevin Raaijmakers, Marketing Manager, Philips

Three dimensions in making an office building sustainable

We've tried to create a building with the smallest possible carbon footprint and environmental impact.”

Future thinking beyond carbon neutral

In the future, buildings won't just be climate-neutral, but they'll absorb CO2 so they'll be good for the environment and will actually supply energy.”

Related articles

Exploring the key trends and latest thinking changing today's workplace

FutureOffice

Health and Wellbeing

Engagement and experience

Connectivity

Probably the most
sustainable building
in the world

Three dimensions in making an
office building sustainable

We've tried to create a building with the smallest possible carbon footprint and environmental
impact.”

Future thinking
beyond carbon neutral