ABN AMRO sponsors plan to transform old apartment buildings
- Sponsorship
A team of students from Delft University of Technology (TU) have developed a plan called Symbiotic Urban Movement (SUM) to sustainably transform more than 800,000 old apartment buildings in the Netherlands. As many old apartment buildings are large consumers of energy they end up being torn down. The TU students have come up with a sustainable alternative solution.
Their solution is to add energy-positive floors to the top of the buildings. Not only will two new floors with additional apartments be created, but the buildings will also be made energy-neutral. The plan will help meet the challenge of creating one million homes in the Netherlands in the next ten years.
Sustainable renovation and social cohesion
New modules will be placed on top of the old apartment buildings and will serve as ‘batteries’, providing the old buildings with solar energy and rainwater. SUM will not only add floors to the buildings; the existing buildings will also be renovated, with new, highly insulated façades containing the wiring and pipes for all systems. The plan also focuses on promoting social cohesion – the ground floors will be transformed into common spaces for the public with restaurants and cafes, shops and workspaces. SUM’s approach dovetails with the key pillars of ABN AMRO’s sustainable strategy: energy efficiency, circular construction and social impact.
Helping the government meet its sustainability ambitions
“We are proud to be a sponsor and knowledge partner of SUM. This transformation plan can make a real contribution to solving the housing shortage in the Netherlands and help the government meet its sustainability ambitions,” says Vincent Groet, Director of ABN AMRO’s Construction in Southwest Netherlands.
The prototype of the sustainable apartment building will be presented on Friday 11 March at The Green Village in Delft. The design is also the Netherlands’ submission for the Solar Decathlon Europe, a competition held in Germany in May and June.