Geelen Counterflow awarded certificate for most sustainable office

Dryer and cooler manufacturer Geelen Counterflow has received the five star “Outstanding” BREEAM certificate for its new sustainable office building in Haelen, The Netherlands. The office was measured and evaluated during the first year after its completion and achieved a record score of 99,94%, which makes it the highest scoring building out of over 500.000 certified buildings worldwide. The building for 50 office employees generates 50% more solar energy than it needs for heating, air conditioning, lighting and computers. The extra energy is used in the factory for laser cutting of stainless steel and recharging of electric forklift trucks. Where possible, the building materials are “Cradle to Cradle” certified, which means that they do no harm to the environment and that they can be re-used at the end of their lifetime.

October 6, 2016

Managing Director Sander Geelen was handed the certificate during the IMPACT seminar in Utrecht by Annemarie van Doorn, director of the Dutch Green Building Council and Gavin Dunn, director of BREEAM.

The building for 50 office employees generates 50% more solar energy than it needs for heating, air conditioning, lighting and computers. The extra energy is used in the factory for laser cutting of stainless steel and recharging of electric forklift trucks.

Where possible, the building materials are “Cradle to Cradle” certified, which means that they do no harm to the environment and that they can be re-used at the end of their lifetime. The building is constructed out of wood which has the lowest CO2 footprint of any construction material.

The design is optimized for employee health and productivity through control of daylight infiltration, air quality and indoor lighting, and by using healthy materials. Around the office a natural garden has been created using a variety of native plants and flowers. The landscaping also includes nesting sites for birds, bugs, bats and amphibians.

Sander Geelen is Managing Director of Geelen Counterflow: “In our never ending quest to build the best dryers and coolers for food and feed we apply the laws of nature around gravity, aerodynamics and thermodynamics. So when we build a new office it only makes sense to respect these laws and the limits of nature too. This office is another step on our journey to phase out fossil fuels. The next step is to develop a new generation of dryers that will use renewable energy only.”

The office was designed by Architecten en Bouwmeesters. Construction management was by Wagemans Bouwadvies. The technical installations were designed by Dubourgraaf and Ad van de Ven was BREEAM-NL expert.

Learn more about Geelen Counterflow