CSR AT EIGEN HAARD

Founded in 1909 Eigen Haard has a long tradition in Dutch social housing. Along with its partners, it works in vital neighbourhoods in a healthy regional housing market. Its mission is to offer affordable housing to people who need it most in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area. Eigen Haard’s CSR goals and targets are firmly anchored in its mission and business strategy. It fulfils its social responsibilities through strong engagement combined with a matter-of-fact approach.

OBJECTIVE

To reach high environmental performance levels in demolition and construction without additional costs, through effective cooperation between stakeholders.

CONTEXT

High additional costs are one of the main barriers to ecological performance; these costs also affect the social sustainability of such projects. Through the CO-Green concept, Eigen Haard wanted to prove that higher ambition could be reached at the same costs as usual, through new forms of cooperation with its partners and enhancing inhabitants’ ecological awareness. It was first experimented in a redevelopment project in Amsterdam. Eigen Haard and its partners, developer ERA Contour, architects KOW and demolition contractor Oranje, looked at the entire process from demolition to design, to redevelopment and living, and innovated their collaboration in order to generate sustainable benefits (ecological, economic and social).

In a very challenging context – poor quality post-war building blocks with an energy-inefficiency of buildings (leading to high energy costs for our tenants); lack of diversity in the types of housing (too little opportunities for big families, too little possibilities for households who climb the so-called socio-economic ladder), accumulation of socio-economic problems – Eigen Haard decided to create a cross-cutting program focused on reducing social housing’s environmental footprint, but also closely-related and designed to address, at the same time, social issues.

DESCRIPTION OF THE GOOD PRACTICE

CO-Green is a concept for sustainable demolition, development and living. The concept’s key element is an innovative way of cooperation (co-makership) and supply chain management.

This innovative way of cooperation is based on two elements of commitment:

• Joint responsibility to achieve defined final goals: different parties are not only committed to their own part of the job, but to the final goal as well.
• Fair way of sharing risks and eventual profits amongst partners, through the Dynamic Distribution Model they have developed.

Tenants and the local municipality also take part to the process. Besides the regular ways of participation the word “GREEN” was used as a unifying theme. The local municipality has agreed to invest in ‘carbon neutral’ public space (e.g. energy efficient street lights). Returning and new residents of the complex are involved in the development of their home, complex, and neighbourhood (examples: an easy to approach caretaker, children’s project to educate adults about ways to keep the neighbourhood clean & tidy…).

To educate tenants on the use of energy efficient installations and healthy living, a youtube film has also been made: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvQeqLCsPyc Information is presented about: ventilation, re-use of energy out of ‘grey’ water, energy saving tips in order to save money, use of heated floor.

Key results and benefits

Efficient cooperation leads to financial gains that consequently are used to take sustainable goals a step further. In terms of environmental impacts and results:

• Re-use, or re-cycle 90% of the recyclable building materials that come from demolition
• Reduction of all energy required for heating, cooling, tap-water and electric installations
• Net CO2 emission of new houses is zero on yearly basis
• Water saving, retainment and re-use
• Other results include:
• 470 new units (social and commercial rent, for sale, and business units) Lower energy costs for residents
• Extra supply of affordable apartments for big families
• Semi-public meeting space
• Energy-efficient household appliances
• Repeatable concept for Sustainable demolition, development and living
• Opportunities created for employment / learning / trainees