Dura Vermeer

Dura Vermeer HOW A CONSTRUCTION AND A DEVELOPMENT COMPANY IS

ACHIEVING SUSTAINABLE IMPACT

Dura Vermeer believes building and development are about people. Their focus as a construction company goes beyond bricks and mortar to encompass the impact projects have on their surroundings. Sustainability is one major factor. To adapt to the changing world, the company has introduced the GoodLife Barometer, a tool to close the divide between developers and end users and create housing, workplaces and living environments that centre on people. Director Marijke Nas and Management Board Chair Edwin de Kuiper tell us what makes Dura Vermeer a sustainable business partner.

“Together, we have final responsibility for all company projects”, Marijke begins. “Edwin has an architecture background and I concentrate mainly on the development side, so we make a good team.” Sustainability is a big priority in the organization, which is doing its best to raise awareness throughout its workforce. “Right now, for example, we are working hard to be able to measure our CO2 emissions”, says Edwin, “so that not only the final product, but the whole process leading up to it can become as green as possible”.

Edwin de Kuiper & Marijke Nas, Dura Vermeer Alliander, Amsterdam (Dura Vermeer)

GoodLife Barometer Dura Vermeer has defined four key pillars to support their ambitions for sustainable operations and so promote awareness on this issue within the company. Those pillars, Marijke explains, “are Happy Living, which focuses on mental and physical health at the societal level, Community, which is about working to foster social sustainability at a systemic level, Sustainable Earth, which is about a resilient world, and Connection, in which we look at the most efficient forms of mobility and energy demand in our expanding living environment.” GoodLife is essentially the embodiment of all these themes, Edwin sums up. “Every neighbourhood is different, so we mapped out the qualities and the challenges of different neighbourhoods around the country. With the GoodLife Barometer, we can get everyone, including our colleagues, thinking about these factors and what we can do to make a measurable change.”

Co-building the future GoodLife also serves as a launching pad for conversations with Dura Vermeer’s business partners, the two say. “We can’t build things alone. Construction is a joint effort”, Edwin points out. “We talk a lot with our partners about where our green ambitions overlap and how we can tie them together”, Marijke adds. “I see huge opportunities to set up better and more future-proof projects.” All the same, more action is needed to keep fuelling these ambitions in the years ahead. Marijke continues, “We need to gather more knowledge in order to measure more factors. Things like how materials are used, and how that impacts our CO2 emissions. The target is to achieve these sustainability ambitions and CO2 reductions by 2030, as far as possible. But will everyone be able to pull that off? We need to at least do everything in our power to make it, because I firmly believe in sustainability and that we should do our best to make the world a better place for future generations. In the end well being built well”, the director concludes. “I’m not sure everyone gets it yet, but if every single organization were to commit to this the way Dura Vermeer is doing, it would get us a long way.”

Dura Vermeer www.duravermeer.com info@duravermeer.com

De Fruitmeester, Beverwijk (Dura Vermeer) Park Valley, Diemen (Dura Vermeer)