Sustainability

Sustainable Event Location 

As a reward for many sustainable adjustments made in the last years, Meervaart has obtained the BREEAM-NL In-Use certificate 'Very Good'. We are very proud to call ourselves a sustainable event location and theater, with this internationally recognized standard.

Click here for more information about BREEAM and the sustainable Amsterdam cultural sector.  

With energy-saving measures such as replacing boilers and lighting with energy-efficient variants and installing 300 solar panels, significant gains have been made in energy consumption. 

As a result, there is a reduction of no less than 20% in CO2 emissions and Energy label A.  

We achieve this by:

• consuming less gas, electricity, and water 
• generating our own energy 
• recovering energy 

What does this mean? 

• To save gas, we have installed new heating boilers and thoroughly insulated the underlying installations 
• Many fluorescent fixtures throughout the building have been replaced by LED tubes 
• The halogen auditorium lighting in the theater halls has been replaced with LED auditorium lighting 
• We took this opportunity of LED adjustments to have the lighting in the public foyers redesigned by lighting designer Coen van der Hoeven. Almost all incandescent and halogen bulbs have been replaced with LED lighting 
• Significant adjustments have been made to the air handling systems of the theater halls. Moving and heating or cooling air is a major energy cost. A smart control system has been implemented, and through heat exchangers (twincoil) we now utilize the warm air that would otherwise be blown away 
• Work is also being done on lighting and air treatment in the spaces of our tenants, the Music School and the Library 
• Solar panels: we have installed 300 solar panels on the roof, with which we generate our own electricity 

What does that yield?

Compared to 2015, for all the sustainability adjustments we have made in recent years, electricity consumption has decreased by 170,000 kWh. This is equivalent to the annual consumption of about 50 households. 

The 300 solar panels on our roof have generated over 70,000 kWh. This means that 100,000 kWh of savings can be attributed to the transition to LED lighting, adjustments in air treatment, and the awareness of our visitors and employees. 
Gas consumption has decreased by about 9,000 m3 compared to 2015, due in part to the new boilers and heat recovery. Translated to CO2 savings, this amounts to over 106 tons of CO2. 
The savings on energy costs are partly used to finance the sustainability measures and to pay off the necessary loans. 

Sustainable Catering Concept  

Catering is an important part of our theater and certainly also during business events. In addition to all the measures mentioned above, we have also moved our catering suppliers and products towards a more sustainable plan over the past few years. 

Why is our catering sustainable? 

• We focus on waste reduction, we do not use plastic bottles, but refillable glass bottles. Tea is served loose with a strainer, so without bags. Moreover, only 'bio-plastic' straws are used. 

• Lower CO2 emissions: we use tap water from Made Blue and serve in our Meervaart (collector items) glass bottles. This makes the transportation of plastic bottles unnecessary. Additionally, spring water does not need to be cooled. 

• Our napkins are made of recycled paper and are 100% ECO. (via Place Add) 

• Payments are only accepted via card, which consumes relatively less energy than cash transactions. 

• Most of our suppliers are known for their sustainable approach. They are (relatively) small-scale and prefer a local and organic/sustainable/craft approach. Some examples are Gulpener beer, Grapedistrict wines, Senza and Mr. Jones tea, Beukenhorst coffee, water from Made Blue, Oma Bob’s bitterballen, and chocolate from Tony Chocolonely.