door Tanja Verkaik
THE HAGUE • The roof of the former petrol station at Willem Witsenplein in The Hague has been transformed into a veritable green oasis. The building is now home to the Van Lennep Clinic. “It’s the first eco-friendly clinic in The Hague and possibly even the Netherlands,” says owner, Ludy Holst, with obvious pride.
Holst entrusted Ingrid Vogels from Green2live with the task of readying her clinic for the future. “It’s not the first thing that tends to spring to mind: a cosmetic clinic specialising in Botox and fillers that’s equally keen to make a positive contribution to the environment. But I’m passionate about beauty and aesthetics, and felt that my neighbours, likewise, deserved something visually appealing on their doorstep. I also wanted to ‘future proof’ the business.
Ingrid Vogels’ company specialises in sustainability. „And I’m good at securing the appropriate funding.” Vogels has successfully completed approximately 7000 square metres of green roofing to date. “Including the roof of the prestigious Museon (science and culture museum),” she enthuses. “The Hague city council actively encourages the installation of green roofing and solar panels via its ‘Duurzame Dakenjacht’ sustainable roofing project. Rainwater from heavy showers often has nowhere to go. Amongst other things, green roofing prevents the sewage system from becoming overloaded.”
It wasn’t unusual for up to ten centimetres of water to collect on the Van Lennep Clinic roof. This has since been swapped for 16 centimetres of insulation material, topped with a layer of sedum (moss and succulent plants). “This green roof will ensure that the building is around seven degrees cooler during the summer and that it consequently satisfies the latest standards (for nearly zero-energy buildings, ed.) to which all new builds must comply in 2021.”
The next step in making the clinic more sustainable is the installation of double glazing. „I’d ideally like a heat pump too,” says Holst. “An additional advantage of green roofing is that it lowers your energy bills and ‘greening’ is also attractive from a fiscal perspective,” Vogels concludes.
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