Building consortium Friso-Koopmans to build Energy Academy Europe in Groningen

The University of Groningen has awarded the tender for building the ‘Energy Academy Europe’ teaching building in Groningen to a building consortium consisting of Aannemingsmaatschappij Friso from Sneek and Koopmans Bouwgroep from Enschede.

The Energy Academy Europe will be the new top institute for research and innovation in the field of sustainable energy. The building itself is set to become an icon of sustainability: the smart design will keep energy consumption to a minimum and the building will generate more energy than it uses. Located on the Zernike Campus Groningen, the building will be ready in the summer of 2016.

A sustainable top institute featuring a unique design

The Energy Academy Europe is a top institute in which industry, education and science join together to work on research and innovation in the field of energy. The sustainable building will be built according to a unique design with a huge solar panels roof that will meet the extremely sustainable energy specifications. The sloping roof with fitted solar panels will be put to optimum use to collect solar energy, while also providing the benefits of maximum natural daylight. The exterior will give the building a characteristic appearance, drawing attention to the innovative energy management going on inside.

Building with an ‘Outstanding’ BREEAM rating to serve as an example

The building measures more than 13,000 m² and the design has been awarded the BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ certificate. This is the highest BREEAM rating, which means that the building meets exceptionally high sustainability criteria. It will serve as an example for forward thinking about energy, and is the only teaching building in the Netherlands to meet such high standards. The new Energy Academy Europe will serve as an example in the area of sustainability and energy saving. A team of experts consisting of architects consortium Broekbakema and pvanb architecten, ICS Adviseurs, Arup, Ingenieursbureau Wassenaar and DGMR, was set up to consider ways of realizing this ambition. Building consortium Friso-Koopmans has now been added to the team as the contractor responsible for achieving the BREEAM completion certificate.

Roughly speaking, the building comprises two sections. Research rooms with laboratories and the necessary workshops will be built on the north side, while the south side will house workspaces, a winter garden and teaching rooms. These worlds meet in a large ‘energy square’, which will be constructed in between, constituting the dynamic heart of the building. The new research building on the Zernike Campus Groningen is due to be completed in mid-2016.

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Groundbreaking Work

@University of Groningen

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