A sustainable, high-quality and healthy living environment

The plan has an average GPR score of 8.62. The GPR maps the sustainability of buildings through figures based on a number of themes: Energy & Environment, Health, Use Quality and Future Value. A building is rated on a scale of 1 to 10 for each theme.

The EPC (Energy Performance Coefficient) of the homes in Park Valley is 0.0. The EPC is a value that indicates how much energy you need to supply a home with electricity, heating and hot water. In other words, it’s energy-neutral!

In Park Valley, you live in an energy-neutral home and we are building an energy-neutral community school. This means that the energy you consume - for heating your home and using hot water - is roughly equal to the energy you generate via solar panels, for example. This results in very low energy costs in your home. The only power costs you still need to be concerned with are for your washing machine, dryer and television, for example.

Realising energy-neutral buildings is not a difficult task these days. What is much more challenging is how we concretely put this into practice, given the themes of energy-efficient building, health and comfort. We use a three-step model for this:

1. Limiting energy demand
2. Heat recovery
3. Sustainable energy

This model forces us to first think carefully about minimising energy demand before we consider how to sustainably satisfy the (remaining) energy demand.

We save energy by thinking carefully beforehand about construction, location and solar orientation. We do this in Park Valley by striking the right balance between compact construction, variable architecture, use of glass and optimal orientation of roof surfaces for energy generation using solar panels. By keeping the glass percentage of facades relatively low (about 40% glass and 60% closed facade) and minimising the amount of north-facing glass, we lay the foundation for low-energy and low-material buildings.

The homes have high-quality insulation, a high level of airtightness and triple sunproof glazing with as little northern orientation as possible. We combine this with a CO2-controlled balanced ventilation system with heat recovery. Low-temperature underfloor heating and electric heat pumps - together with area TES (thermal energy storage) - also provide sustainable heating and cooling. With these measures, we significantly reduce energy consumption, noise pollution, solar radiation and cold from outside and ensure a comfortable indoor climate.

We deliberately choose not to use ground heat exchangers or district heating in Park Valley, but a thermal energy storage system instead. With an area TES for all homes, commercial facilities and for the community school, we provide a maximum exchange of heat and cold between the different buildings. A limited number of wells suffice for the whole project, so that we disturb the soil as little as possible. In comparison, with ground heat exchangers, we would need hundreds of heat exchangers for the same performance. The availability of 'free cooling' with TES is also of great added value for comfort, liveability and future-proofing in relation to climate.

The design of the homes in Park Valley is modular, which means the houses can be easily adapted to future living requirements. The community school will also have this flexibility. This ensures guaranteed long life cycles of the homes and the school. We also enable future reuse of the homes. By already thinking about the future in the design process, material selection and finishing, we ensure that the homes can be largely disassembled. This means the materials can be easily repurposed at the end of their life. The homes will have a materials passport showing which materials have been used and their environmental impact.

Together with the municipality, we keep an eye on how waste collection will be arranged. This will soon allow you to easily separate waste with little effort. We are also already thinking about waste separation for each home in the design of the housing concepts. Additionally, we create connections between the systems under the homes by using heat, electricity and water in a smart, efficient and economical way. Sensors and smart meters collect data and advise residents as to what actions are needed. As a resident, you will be given more and more insight into the consumption, surplus, waste and generation - of energy, heat, water and waste - with regard to your own home and at neighbourhood level.

The landscape in the area will be paved as little as possible, leaving as much space as possible for greenery and water. The more greenery there is, the more rainwater we can collect. And water is the source of all life! That is why we are integrating water storage into the design to enable maximum reuse of the water. At Park Valley, water is visible, tangible and usable for you and for everyone. We store rainwater and use it for irrigation, cooling and water playgrounds. Excess rainwater flows back into the canal via slow and natural filtration measures.

The landscape in the area will be paved as little as possible, leaving as much space as possible for greenery and water. The more greenery there is, the more rainwater we can collect. And water is the source of all life! That is why we are integrating water storage into the design to enable maximum reuse of the water. At Park Valley, water is visible, tangible and usable for you and for everyone. We store rainwater and use it for irrigation, cooling and water playgrounds. Excess rainwater flows back into the canal via slow and natural filtration measures.

Greenery contributes to the city's liveability as well as to people's health and well-being. In Park Valley, you are surrounded by greenery and there are plenty of opportunities to spend time in this greenery. Air quality benefits from limited traffic in the area (reduced emissions) and the neighbourhood's abundance of water and greenery. In buildings and homes, balanced ventilation with CO2 control ensures clean air indoors.

Greenery contributes to the city's liveability as well as to people's health and well-being. In Park Valley, you are surrounded by greenery and there are plenty of opportunities to spend time in this greenery. Air quality benefits from limited traffic in the area (reduced emissions) and the neighbourhood's abundance of water and greenery. In buildings and homes, balanced ventilation with CO2 control ensures clean air indoors.

The enclosed inner courtyards, the soft transitions from the various clusters to the green area, water-rich park and the park itself offer a peaceful and pleasant environment. Children can walk safely through the park to school without the danger of speeding cars. Park Valley is a low-traffic area: cars drive on the outer edges of the area and must also park there or underground. For the rest, the buildings remain easily accessible for fire services and ambulances. The schoolyard is also open outside school hours, providing a pleasant and safe play environment.