New HU building nominated for international sustainability award
HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht’s new location at Heidelberglaan 15 (HL15) has been nominated for an international BREEAM Award in the category Public Sector Project - Post Construction Award. The website of the Dutch operator of BREEAM, a leading sustainability certification method, calls HL15 “the most sustainable education building in the world”.
In an international comparison, Heidelberglaan 15 is the first education location to satisfy the standards for the highest sustainability certification level (outstanding) within the BREEAM system. The building has scored high in each of the appraised categories, and specifically in the use of roof planting, a ground-coupled heat exchanger, solar panels and energy-efficient lifts and escalators. HL15’s sustainability is further strengthened by the HU’s university-wide contributions, including the institution’s traffic and transport policy and waste separation scheme.
The building houses the HU’s degree programmes in Economics, Communication and ICT, as well as the Research Centre for Innovation in Business and Communication.
BREEAM
BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) was originally developed and introduced by the Building Research Establishment (BRE), a research centre in the UK that can be compared to a certain degree to the Netherlands’ TNO. Besides the Netherlands, BREEAM certification has been made compliant with legislation and regulations in the following countries: Norway, Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden and Austria.