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Antwerp Police opened a new regional office along Bredabaan in Merksem at the end of 2022. Because building owner AG VESPA dared to look ahead in the design phase 8 years earlier and invest proactively in sustainability, the technical installations are still futureproof today.
The new regional office is located between the Borrewaterstraat - where the previous office was located - and the Van Stratenlei, a stone's throw from Merksem's district office. The building, which was designed by 360 architects from Ghent, has about 3,000 m2 of floor space, divided into a ground floor and 3 upper floors with reception, offices and meeting rooms, and a basement with underground parking and cells.
Future-oriented building
The project was started in 2012 and the technical installations were designed in 2014-2015. At that time, energy requirements were a lot less stringent than today and minds were usually not yet ripe for (striving for) fossil-free (construction). Even technology that has since proven its added value was still quite new at that time. As a result, building owners were often hesitant and/or unambitious to bet heavily on sustainability. AG VESPA, however, did have this intention, and went along with our vision to look further ahead than the regulations of the time.
(Just barely) Fossil-free
Daarom werd gekozen voor een BEO-veld dat passieve koeling mogelijk maakt en via water-water warmtepompen zorgt voor het grootste deel van de verwarmingsvraag. Omdat er op het terrein onvoldoende ruimte was voor een ruimer gedimensioneerd BEO-veld wordt de piekvraag opgevangen met 2 relatief kleine verwarmingsketels op gas. De warmte en de koelte worden afgegeven via klimaatplafonds, wat voor die tijd vooruitstrevend was. Er werd toen ‘standaard’ nog volop gekozen voor klassieke ventilo-convectoren, die weliswaar sneller verwarmen en koelen, maar ook een stuk meer verbruiken. Met simulaties konden we de bouwheer overtuigen dat de klimaatplafonds wel degelijk voor voldoende comfort zouden zorgen. En vandaag blijkt de energiebesparing meteen ook een extra troef.
Because a relatively large amount of hot water is consumed in the building - including in the showers and cubicles - a solar water heater was chosen, while for electricity generation full use was made of PV panels on the building's roof.
Anticipating EPB requirements
At the time the techniques of this police station were designed, there were already epb requirements but it was not yet mandatory to include a certain share of renewable energy. Projects like this police station have a lead time between design and completion of several years. In this particular case, the strategic redesign of the police stations on the Antwerp territory caused an extra long duration. Today, the prices of gas and electricity taken from the grid are much higher than in 2014-2015. By opting for sustainable and renewable energy at that time, the operating costs are much lower today at the same comfort level.
Copyright images: 360 Architects
Would you like to know more about this project and/or the possibilities for making your project sustainable? Contact our expert Joost Verstraete at joost.verstraete@ingenium.be or by phone at 050 40 45 30.
Vlaanderen besliste dat vanaf 2026 enkel nog fossielvrije bedrijfswagens – volledig elektrisch of op waterstof – fiscaal aftrekbaar zullen zijn. Een leasewagen op diesel of benzine zal voor 0% aftrekbaar zijn. Daarnaast moeten gebouwen die niet voor bewoning bestemd zijn en een minimaal aantal parkeerplaatsen hebben, tegen 2025 of bij nieuwbouw of ingrijpende renovatie zelfs onmiddellijk laadpalen voor elektrische voertuigen voorzien.
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The decision to make a building intelligent is best made as early as the concept phase of a construction or renovation project. Yet technology can also be integrated incrementally afterwards. While this approach requires an accurate inventory of the possibilities, followed by a conscious choice of focal themes.
