GREEN OFFICE 2015: INTEGRAL DESIGN OFFERS ADDED VALUE

Throughout the entire process of design and construction, the various partners to the Green Office 2015 project collaborate on an integral basis. This means that the demands of the users are paramount and that these are translated into building functions. The participants collectively work to achieve the best possible area developments, combined with the lowest possible (social) costs over the entire life of the project. To this end, all participants take equal part in the design process from the very start, making use of multidimensional building information models (BIM).

The advantages to this integral approach are many. The knowledge and experience of all the parties involved yields more than merely a modern and sustainable office building; thanks to this integral approach, Green Office 2015 has become a highly innovative area vision. The concept, moreover, saves a phenomenal amount of time and cuts failure costs to a minimum, as all the parties within the construction vertical cooperate interactively throughout the design process. In this way, decisions are thoroughly underpinned, conflicts of interest are carefully considered and problems become evident early on during the design phase. Moreover, material, energy and maintenance costs are also much lower, rendering the operation of Green Office 2015 far cheaper than conventional developments on a comparative scale. As a final point, Green Office 2015 affects the level of satisfaction of the users of the building in a positive way.

Early talks

The participants are divided into three groups: the Development Group, the Realization Group and the Innovation Group. Each group contributes to the project on the basis of the specific expertise of the group in question. The Innovation Group examines innovative technologies and concepts relating to energy, sustainable materials, maintenance minimization and flexible work arrangements. The Development Group is concerned with innovation, low-energy concepts and technologies, and the flexible use of space.

The Realization Group investigates the possibilities for ‘open building’, the realization of an energy-producing building, and the life cycle of the building, financing and operation. This approach meant that architects, advisors, constructional engineers, project developers, contracting companies, installation technicians and clients entered into consultative talks very early on. Together, they developed the Green Office 2015 concept into a valuable area development.

Focus on the User

In order to be able to place the focus on the users of Green Office 2015, the participants first meticulously assessed exactly who they were. To this end, they made use of personas who were representative for the group of actual users. Personas are fictitious persons with a name, photo, their own working styles including a certain degree of mobility, cooperation and own needs. The participants also examined the use of the office in the future. This revealed that the raw materials knowledge and information continue to gain in importance with respect to work. People increasingly wish to work whenever this is convenient for them. To a growing extent, the office is becoming a meeting place. Also, it is becoming more and more desirable to use buildings and space outside office hours; in this way, the area remains vital, scarce floorage meters are used more efficiently and operating revenue can be maximized.

Building Information Model

The participants make use of multidimensional building information models(BIM). Using open file formats, all data – from architect to installation technician and construction company – can be combined in BIM. Due to the fact that all data are linked, highly advanced analyses can be made at a very early stage, such as energy consumption and level of comfort calculations, building material quantities, the cabling and infrastructure dimensions. Or whether or not to opt for a glass roof: while this yields an agreeable work environment, cooling a glass-roofed building costs a huge amount of energy. The building can also be turned virtually to assess whether the yield improves. As soon as one party changes the data in any way, this is incorporated integrally into the total design.

For more information see: www.greenoffice2015.nl.

Reader enquiries

Green Office 2015
Projectbureau Green Office 2015
p/a Imtech Nederland
Postbus 8584
3009 AN Rotterdam

Netherlands

+31 10 44 77 312

www.GreenOffice2015.nl