BREEAM certificate 'Excellent' for the Antwerp provincial government building

The Antwerp provincial government building has received the BREEAM certificate for being 'excellent'. BREEAM stands for Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method and screens buildings internationally for sustainability. 

The Antwerp Provincial Building was designed by XDGA architects in Brussels with stability bureau Bollinger + Grohmann from Paris and with Studiebureau Boydens for the sustainable techniques. The building was realised by the contractor consortium Democo and Denys and opened in 2019.

After obtaining the passive house certificate and the certificate for BEN-building (near-zero energy) earlier this year, the new building has now also been awarded the BREEAM certificate with a score of 'Excellent'. The BREEAM rapporteur is BOPRO. The Breeam quality certificate is recognised in more than 80 countries.

Whereas the earlier certificates were Belgian and Flemish and focused mainly on energy efficiency, the internationally recognised BREEAM certificate rewards sustainability criteria in no fewer than 9 domains. BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) is the most widely used method worldwide for determining the sustainability performance of buildings. The 9 assessment themes are management, energy, health and well-being, transport, water, materials, waste, land use and ecology, pollution.

These are the scores achieved for the Province House:

Provinciehuis Antwerpen Breeam Excellent

In June 2016, the certificate for 'Design Stage' was already awarded. In June 2021, the provincial building was awarded the 'Post Construction' certificate. The predetermined ambition of 'Excellent' is amply achieved with 73.8% (70% required).

Provincial Executive Ludwig Caluwé: "As far as sustainability and energy-efficient construction are concerned, this also confirms internationally that the new provincial building is the cream of the crop. The building has been built to a high standard, will last for a long time and is technologically ready for the future."

View some beautiful images of the building here.