After the renovation, the Main Building of Eindhoven University of Technology is the most sustainable educational building in the world. After completion of the building, it received the highest BREEAM score ever for this type of building (96,01%). BREEAM is the most widely used method for measuring the sustainability of buildings, which has already been applied to 250.000 buildings worldwide. During the National BREEAM Congress 2019, Eindhoven University of Technology was awarded the official 'BREEAM Outstanding' delivery certificate. The university building is with the beautiful final score:
#7 most sustainable building worldwide
#3 most sustainable building in the Netherlands
#1 most sustainable educational building worldwide
The exceptionally sustainable renovation design was created by Total Engineer Team RSVP. Team RSVP is an integral and multidisciplinary design team consisting of Team V (architect), Van Rossum (constructor), Valstar Simonis (installation advice) and Peutz (building physics and sustainability). The sustainability experts of Team RSVP have worked closely with researchers from TU/e during the design, so that the Main Building is set up as a living lab for research into innovative and sustainable techniques. For example, the entire building has smart and economical LED lighting, which is set to a relatively low light level as standard. Users can adjust the light setting themselves via an app if they find it necessary. The university will use this system to conduct research into how people deal with customizable light settings.
CO2 reduction 80%
The new curtain wall is special. The building is equipped with triple glazing, with a double screen on the inside consisting of internal sun protection and light protection. By using state-of-the-art materials, this 'simple' curtain wall equals the Rc values of a double skin facade. At night, the interior sun protection can be lowered, so that the thermal value of the facade can even compete with an insulated cavity wall. The facade also provides the building with 'night flushing'. In summer, the floor-to-ceiling windows slide out at night to cool the building and purify the air. In addition, all users can open or close the windows themselves. All interventions will reduce the building's CO2 emissions by about 80 percent, while the number of 'residents' of the building more than doubles.
No gas connection
The Main Building, which will be called 'Atlas' after the renovation, no longer has a gas connection. The building receives all necessary heating and cooling from the TU/e campus-wide WKO system (heat-cold storage). This system stores heat and cold separately in the subsurface, and retrieves them when buildings need to be heated or cooled. This ATES system is one of the largest in Europe. In addition, there are solar panels that will generate 500 megawatt hours per year, which will cover the majority of the building's electricity consumption.
Atlas building houses the Industrial Design faculty, the Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences faculty, the university board and the support services. The original building dates from 1963, has sixteen floors and a floor area of 44.000 square meters.
