Schiphol goes Platinum as new office building achieves highest international certification for sustainable construction
Schiphol's TransPort building (photo: SchipholTV)
Tue 25 Jan 2011 – Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport has received the highest possible international sustainable construction certification for its new TransPort office building, which houses the carriers transavia.com and Martinair. It becomes the first building in the Netherlands and only the third new-office build in Europe to receive the LEED Platinum certificate by the United States Green Building Council (USGBG). LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is the international sustainability mark that assesses construction projects around the world on five environmental criteria: sustainable sites; water efficiency; energy and the atmosphere; materials and resources; and indoor environmental quality.
“We started the construction of TransPort three years ago with the aim of constructing a sustainable, commercial office building to the highest international standards,” said Maarten de Groof, Executive Vice President & CCO of Schiphol Group. “We’re proud that our efforts have been rewarded with this internationally-renowned certificate. We’re also delighted that transavia.com and Martinair are very satisfied with their new sustainable head office. We invest a lot in sustainability and in creating an optimum environment for establishing businesses, both of which are important parts of Schiphol’s strategy.”
Situated at Schiphol-East, TransPort has a total floor space of 11,200 square metres available for rental and is the new headquarters for transavia.com and Martinair, with the former involved in the design of the building from the start. In April 2010, TransPort was also awarded the first BREEAM-NL certificate for sustainable construction.
The LEED method, developed by the non-profit USGBC, assesses the sustainability of the design, construction and management of buildings and a strong push is underway to extend its global reach. Worldwide, 6,326 projects have now received LEED certification as of December 2010, of which 1,458 are Certified, 2,066 are at Silver level, 2,432 are Gold and 371 are Platinum. Of the Platinum projects, seven are in Europe and three (now including TransPort) are new-build office projects. The other two Platinum office projects are located in Germany and Finland.
TransPort has been developed by Schiphol Real Estate, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Schiphol Group, and develops, manages, operates and invests in commercial real estate.
Other aviation LEED Platinum-certified buildings include Hangar 25, located at the Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, California, and the Shanghai Engine Center, a Pratt & Whitney joint venture with China Eastern Airlines. Scheduled to open this coming spring, San Francisco International Airport’s new Terminal 2 (T2), which will be the home base for Virgin America, is expected to become the first LEED Gold-certified airport terminal. Virgin America says it anticipates T2 will ultimately achieve Platinum status.
