ESG

We use the Building Circularity Index (BCI) to measure our performance on circular construction. In circular construction, buildings are developed, used and reused without unnecessarily depleting natural resources, polluting the living environment or affecting ecosystems (Transition Agenda Circular Economy, 2018). At an early stage of the process, we assess which materials can and cannot be used based on their recycling potential and the environmental impacts of production. The Raw Materials Agreement targets 100% circular construction by the year 2050. This is a wonderful ambition. To realise this target, every single party involved in construction projects will have to learn how to achieve fully circular construction. Working together and challenging each other will take us closer to that goal. We think it is important to jointly formulate measurable goals for new projects. The BCI is used to assess both the environmental impact and detachability of each material used. This enables us and our designers to make the right choices to achieve the project goals. All the materials used are inventoried and stored by Madaster, an online registry for materials and products. This makes every building a source of reusable materials for new buildings.

Our mobility is changing dramatically. In just a short space of time, individual car ownership is no longer the only standard. Depending on the typology of the location and its residents, mobility can be interpreted very differently. This often involves working on the basis of the Dutch S.T.O.M.P. principle: Stappen (walking), Trappen (stairs), OV (public transport), MaaS (Mobility as a Service) and only then the (P) of Private car. Proximity to amenities such as shopping and public transport stops plays an important role on this front, but also the willingness of those involved to adapt. Foruminvest is part of the ‘Electric Partial Mobility in Urban Area Development’ City Deal. This is an alliance of central government, provincial authorities, local councils and private parties in the field of electric shared cars. One of the major national pilot projects is our development/investment in the ‘TwoTwoFive’ residential building, where our tenants have access to 10 electric shared cars.

The TwoTwoFive residential complex combines safety, connection and cohesion. Thanks to the joint efforts of Foruminvest and Community-as-a-Service platform Area of People, TwoTwoFive is evolving into a wonderful community building. The central focus in this project is on creating a safe and pleasant living environment, where social cohesion plays an important role in daily life.

This building offers residents not just a home, but also a network of valuable relationships, which is an important factor in long-term housing enjoyment.

Discover how TwoTwoFive, in collaboration with Area of People, is changing the perception of community life.

In all our projects, we take into account the changing climate, including the greater frequency of extreme weather situations, both in terms of extreme rainfall and extreme droughts. This is why the roof of TwoTwoFive’s car park incorporates a water retention system. The soil package on the roof consists of a ‘crate system’, substrate and a vegetation layer. The crate system can collect about 150 mm of water over the entire surface. This enables the easy absorption of the most extreme rain showers. In addition, this system acts as a water buffer that ensures that the grasses and other vegetation do not dry out during periods of prolonged drought. So instead of a ‘petrified’ car park roof, we have created a pleasant park-like environment, complete with carefully selected planting, which has the maximum positive impact on the well-being of both the residents and the surrounding area.

When we talk about adaptive construction, we are referring to the ‘robustness’ of a building; in other words, creating space intended to accommodate future changes. For example, the plinths in our hotels and residential buildings always include excess height, so other functions are possible in addition to the current function. For instance, in the ibis Styles Rotterdam Ahoy hotel, all room-dividing walls are non-bearing. The only structural elements are the load-bearing facades, along with stairs, lifts and shafts and a smart column grid. This means the building is almost totally flexible in terms of different uses or different hotel concepts. TwoTwoFive does have load-bearing walls separating the apartments, but these walls include a built-in feature. This feature makes it possible to break through walls and connect homes in the future, making it possible to respond to changing housing needs.

Energy efficiency is one of the most essential aspects of sustainable development. The installations in our hotels and in the common areas of our residential buildings are connected to a BMS (building management system), which provides rapid insight into energy consumption and also shows where adjustments may need to be made. In addition to monitoring energy use, we also take concrete measures to minimise energy consumption. For instance, our buildings (of course) use LED lighting linked to motion sensors and/or twilight switches. CO²-controlled ventilation is also used in the homes, meaning that homes are only ventilated when this is actually necessary. Once it is produced, energy is also retained as much as possible (Qv10 airtightness of the façade) or recovered using a general heat exchanger and a separate shower heat exchanger. Energy is also supplied in a sustainable manner, either by means of the building’s own thermal energy storage system or through connection to the municipal district heating network, sometimes in combination with PV panels.

There are many ways to generate renewable energy. Whenever possible, we use an aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) system in the soil under our projects. The thermal energy storage system stores heat or cold in the soil so that this energy can be used to heat or cool the building at any given moment. This is often combined with heat pumps. Heating and cooling using a thermal energy storage system is not only highly sustainable, it is also much less expensive than using traditional installations.

In addition to sustainable energy generation, people are increasingly looking for ways to store energy (electricity). Solar panels can generate a lot of energy, but consumption is often out of sync with the availability of the generated electricity. Electric (shared) cars can sometimes be used to store this energy. The car battery can be used to temporarily store the energy and release it at a later time when needed. However, not all cars are suitable for this system yet. An alternative could be a ‘salt battery’ installed in the building. Thanks to the smart delivery of stored energy to the building or to the energy grid, the payback time of these batteries is getting shorter. These batteries are relatively new, but they are now sufficiently developed to be used in our buildings.