Unique collaboration: 'Government buildings in The Hague to be climate-neutral by 2040 at the latest'

By 2040 at the latest, the most important government buildings in the centre of The Hague will be climate-neutral. That is the goal of the Green Citydeal EnergieRijk Den Haag, which was signed on Thursday 27 September 2018 by State Secretary Knops of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, Commissioner Baljeu of the province of South Holland and alderman Van Tongeren of the municipality of The Hague. The three administrators have thus signed this ambitious agreement. Unique cooperation within energy transition.

The area-oriented approach in EnergieRijk Den Haag is special. State Secretary Knops: 'We are not going to make a single building more sustainable, but are going to adopt a smart area-based approach in which we jointly make dozens of buildings greener. This acceleration is necessary to achieve the objectives of the Paris Climate Agreement'.

The desire for cooperation within EnergieRijk Den Haag is unique. Never before have three levels of government worked together on this scale with public and private partners on the urban energy transition. Commissioner of the province of Zuid-Holland Jeannette Baljeu: 'This cooperation also creates mass for the development and scaling-up of innovative solutions. New methods and technology will become available, and public and private partners will learn how they can jointly contribute to the energy transition.' Witteveen+Bos, together with DWA and Rebel Group in the Motion 2040 consortium, was commissioned by the Dutch Government Property Company and the municipality of The Hague to enable a scalable and repeatable strategy for sustainability and the realisation of the Paris Climate Agreement in an area-based approach. It was essential to develop a new spatial and social planning principle for sustainability: the Trias Territoria. 

The Green Citydeal was signed by the State Property Company, the municipality of The Hague, the province of South Holland and other organisations such as the SER, the Police, the Council for the Judiciary, various High Councils of State and the private parties BAM Bouw en Vastgoed, the Facilicom Group and Safire. 

Challenging and inspiring
Besides being unique, the Green Citydeal is also challenging and inspiring. Not only will these buildings be climate neutral by 2040 at the latest, but an approach is also being developed that can be applied in other urban areas. Alderman Liesbeth van Tongeren of The Hague. 'Energy efficiency and clean energy are essential for the future of our cities. This task requires residents, entrepreneurs and administrative partners who work together, together we can do so much more.'

What is it all about?

• The most important government buildings in the centre of The Hague, including the Provinciehuis Zuid-Holland, the Stadhuis Den Haag and various ministries with a total of 1 million m2 gross floor area
• Climate neutral in 2040
• Development of a scalable and repeatable (area-based) 'cooperation infrastructure' to which other real estate (homes/utility) can also connect.

More information: www.rijksvastgoedbedrijf.nl/energierijkdenhaag