New main building healthcare campus Radboudumc BREEAM Excellent

“BREEAM-NL looks at the patient, visitor and employee. As a result, they all experience it as a pleasant environment. That contributes to better care and that’s what we do it for,” says Paul Grotens, Projects Program Manager at Radboudumc. The new main building is BREEAM-NL Excellent certified, so far the highest score for a university medical center.

Large parts of the campus are being demolished, renewed and renovated. Main Building A is one of Radboudumc’s new, sustainable buildings. Bernard Baltussen, consulting program manager, explains how BREEAM-NL helped to realize the sustainability ambitions. “The legal requirements for new buildings are already quite strict. BREEAM-NL goes the extra mile and asks further questions. All aspects are taken into account, from the shell to the interior and the environment. Look at transport, for example. How do you get people from the bus stop to the main entrance of the hospital? But comfort is also an important aspect – how do you make sure this is right in all areas?”

Thinking far ahead and constructing future-proof buildings is something both take for granted. “It is important to look to the future and be a frontrunner. Not only in healthcare, but also with our buildings and sustainability ambitions. The BREEAM-NL certificate makes visible what we as Radboudumc stand for,” Grotens says. The board set the level of ambition and, together with contractors, managers and BREEAM-NL adviseurs everything was done to achieve an Excellent score. “You need people who go for it. There is a lot of technology in the building, without the contractors we won’t achieve a sustainable result.” Baltussen agrees, “You really have to work together to get this done. Everything under one hat instead of everyone arranging their own piece.”