Business parks offer enormous potential to reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions. The Stichting Bedrijventerreinen Energiepositief (the association of energy-positive business parks), or BE+, therefore wants to make 250 of the 3,500 Dutch business parks sustainable without the cashflow of the individual businesses being compromised. The plan was presented during the National Climate Summit 2016 in Rotterdam and picked out as one of the most promising projects.

BE+ is an initiative of Oost NV, SKBN (the alliance for sharing knowledge on business park (re)development), TNO and WM3 Energie. It is expected that the approach they are proposing will generate savings of 32 petajoule (PJ) in just 5 years, which is equivalent to a third of the target of the Energy Agreement.

BE+ was officially launched on 3 November during the annual BT-Event in Zaanstad for professionals concerned with spatial planning for the regional economy.

Less energy consumption and CO2 emissions

TNO has worked out that the sustainability approach will save some 32 PJ each year, or around 8 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) annually. The energy saving is coupled with an annual reduction of 3,000 CO2 kiloton emissions. The sustainable energy share will grow by 2.5 billion kWh. Furthermore, an additional 2,500 jobs are expected to be needed in the installation sector to modify the energy installations and infrastructure.

TNO is developing a tool that enables each company to accurately determine how it can make savings and the measures it needs to do so. The tool collects data on the type of company, building, age, consumption and energy infrastructure, combining this information in a transparent overview. This allows a detailed perspective of the potential savings per business park.

Business participation

Businesses that participate in the plan will be unified in a local organisation that will be able to obtain the necessary funding from the DIR (sustainable investment scheme) fund established for BE+. This form of funding means that the energy measures that have to be taken will not compromise the cashflow of the participating companies or investments in the primary process. BE+ appeals to businesses and their organisations to register for participation in the project. For each business park BE+ will join forces with a local partner, normally a park administrator or business association that will look after the interests of the participating companies as much as possible.

Oost NV

Development agency Oost NV develops and supervises innovation projects, helping to finance them. Oost NV accelerates internationalisation activities and the growth of SMEs as well as modernises business parks and ICT infrastructure. PPM Oost, the holding company of Oost NV, participates in innovative companies and manages innovation funds.

SKBN

The Stichting Kennisalliantie Bedrijventerreinen Nederland (SKBN) is active in developing and sharing knowledge on the (re)development of business parks. Nine regional and urban development agencies from around the Netherlands collaborate in the association.

TNO

The 3000 or so professionals of TNO apply their knowledge and experience to realise smart solutions for complex issues. These innovations help to sustainably strengthen the competitiveness of industry and wellbeing of our society. Our partners include around 3000 national and international companies and organisations, including SMEs.

WM3 Energie

WM3 Energie helps companies to become sustainable and supervises the implementation process, thereby contributing to a better future by making as many companies and organisations as possible CO2-neutral and enabling everyone to have access to sustainable energy solutions, all without compromising business cashflow.

Zie ook

• BE+ website (in Dutch only)
• BT-Event (in Dutch only)

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» Publication Date: 09/11/2016

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