An icon of sustainability in Groningen

Groningen (The Netherlands), 12 July 2018 – Unica, a Triton Fund IV, designed, built and operates the heat/cold storage (heat and cold) installation at the Energy Academy Europe, the most sustainable education building in the Netherlands.

The youngest flagship on the Zernike Campus Groningen is on top of many lists. Thanks to a smart design, the required energy is low therefore the building is able to produce more energy than it consumes. Both the public and the professional jury of the Grote Groninger Gebouwenenquête 2017 called the Energy Academy Europe the “most beautiful new building in the city of Groningen”. Earlier this year, the building was also awarded the BREEAM Outstanding certificate at the International BREEAM Awards 2017 in the category “Mixed Use & Other”.

In the new building, industry, education and science disciplines work together on research and innovation in the field of sustainable energy. "We wanted the new building to match its users. It had to become an icon of sustainability," says Martin Kranenborg, project manager Real Estate & Investment Projects at the University of Groningen (RUG). " Since 2006, Unica has been helping the University of Groningen and Hanzeschool Groningen to make the buildings on the Zernike Campus more sustainable. Unica has taken over the heat exchangers for all buildings and has been operating them from the very beginning."

Unica also designed, built and operated the WKO installation for the Energy Academy Europe. "Unica thinks in-depth about how we can achieve the highest possible sustainability level," says Martin. "Last year, we were fortunate that a new type of heat pump that uses an environmentally responsible and ozone-neutral refrigerant was introduced worldwide. Unica imported the pump from Italy, and made sure that we had the first building in the Netherlands with this pump. That is how we got the best and most sustainable result for our building."