Heijmans plays an initiating and integrating role when it comes to making the living environment more sustainable. We want to make a difference by designing sustainably, with an eye for alternative and decentralised energy generation and efficient (re)use of materials. We want to leave the environment better than we found it, so we can create value right across the board. To this end, we work closely with a wide range of partners, from the construction industry, engineering, infrastructure, education and science. Heijmans manages the theme of sustainability integrally throughout the organisation and it is a fixed part of our work.
Sustainability is high on Heijmans’ strategic agenda, with three central themes:
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Energy transition
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Materials transition
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Space
Circularity plays an ever-increasing role in how we build, manage and maintain.
Complexity
Improving sustainability is not always easy and we are faced with major complex challenges. For instance, the much-needed expansion of energy grids in the Netherlands will remain urgent in the coming years because of the large-scale electrification of homes, businesses, machinery and vehicle fleets. This is essential to ensure that lack of capacity does not slow down the required acceleration in electrification. Nor is the related development of electric energy storage in various forms an easy task. At the same time, we can also see that we are reaching the limits of nature’s ability to absorb the impact of our production and consumption on ecosystems. And we are being forced to look for alternatives in places where emissions of nitrogen, noise, CO₂ and waste are too high. But the transition also offers opportunities. This is why Heijmans is investing in new production methods and why we are very open about our wish to play an active role in climate adaptation, such as raising the height of dykes and building water storage facilities, or climate mitigation, such as reducing our own footprint and building climate-neutral residential neighbourhoods.
To measure is to know
To know whether we are successfully achieving our sustainability ambitions, we take all kinds of measurements in the various phases of area and project developments. A baseline measurement beforehand, followed by measurements in the design and realisation phase and in the usage phase. To this end, we have been working for many year with various parties, such as NL Greenlabel, the Naturalis Biodiversity Centre, national forestry commission Staatsbosbeheer and Wageningen University. By taking measurements, monitoring and collecting data, we are involved in projects for longer periods, also after completion. This enables us to monitor the impact of design choices made several years earlier. This leads to greater insight into opportunities to makes things better, smarter and more sustainable.
Application of sustainable design principles
In 2023, Heijmans drew up Sustainable Design Principles (Dutch: DOP). These eight principles will enable us, among other things, to safeguard our ambitions for climate-adaptive and nature-inclusive construction in projects. We have also drawn up design principles aimed at reducing the amount of materials we use and increasing the reuse of materials.
Heijmans Infra’s Design department will be the first to work with these principles. The Design department’s activities are at the front end of the construction process, giving designers a great deal of influence on the strategic theme of sustainability. However, sustainability is such a broad and extensive concept that it was not always clear how best to implement it in a project. The sustainable design principles provide our colleagues with guidance on this front.
The sustainable design principles indicate what we at Heijmans consider sustainable and help us to integrate sustainability in our designs. The principles provide a number of concrete maxims in the field of materials and space, with underlying explanations and practical examples. To safeguard these (and, in a broader sense, sustainability) in our work, they have been incorporated into the design process, and we have made adjustments to our management systems and design documents for this purpose. Making the principles part of the process steps has made sustainability an integral part of our designs, and a regular topic of discussion. As a result, we are increasingly making conscious sustainable choices in the design phase of our projects.
In addition, we use the sustainable design principles in tenders, to show our clients what we stand for. We will continue to develop these principles in the coming year, among other things by adding Energy and aligning the principles to our refined ‘Together towards 2030’ strategy.
Peter van Leeuwen
“We are going to do something really special and the whole country is watching. It is an exciting and intensive project. We need each other, because everyone has their own knowledge and skills. And everyone has to put their best foot forward. To give you an idea; as the Central Government Real Estate Agency, we are now working with four contractors, 10 architects, almost 20 consultants and lots of other stakeholders. That requires coordination, respect, transparency, an eye for each other’s interests, and trust. Heijmans is also making a concrete contribution to this. This is how we are working together to make the Binnenhof renovation a success.”