English

The Sustainable House Leidsche Rijn

In september 2001 the Sustainable House Foundation Leidsche Rijn opened an Information Centre on sustainable living and sustainable building in Leidsche Rijn, Utrecht.

Leidsche Rijn is a newly constructed district of Utrecht. Approximately 30.000 houses will be built here in ten years. The Sustainale House Foundation (SHF) seeks to provide information on sustainable living for (new) inhabitants, for example on ways for them to arrange and organise their new homes and gardens. The SHF wants to show that sustainable living can, in fact, be enjoyable and comfortable as well as environmentally friendly. From renewable carpeting to eco-friendly paint, from an innovative kitchen to a convertible children's bed, from natural partitioning of the garden to a pond pump running on solar energy, from contemporary clay walls to high-tech taps. The Sustainable House also provides information about how to make use of the environmentally friendly facilities in the district, such as the special rainwater system and district heating.

The Sustainable House provides information on sustainable living and building to different target groups, such as Dutch inhabitants, local autorities, building companies and schools.

The Sustainable House is a detached villa which uses only little energy. From an architectural point of view it looks modern and innovative. The Sustainable House is built as one of the most modern, energy-efficient and environmentally friendly houses in the Netherlands. Because of the combination of fifty square metres of solar panels, extra thick insulation, highly efficient double glass, a balanced ventilation system that recirculates warm air and floor heating which is connected to the district heating system the Sustainable Home can be considered as special. Furthermore, FSC timber and waterbased paints were used to build and paint the house.
Therefore this House may be called a 'zero energy house'.

The Sustainable House Foundation is a joint initiative, supported by local governmental authorities, commercial institutions en educational groups.

Sinds december 2005 the Sustainable House Leidsche Rijn is not open for visits anymore. The house is now been used as office for SME Advies (www.sme.nl). 
For additional information you may contact the Sustainable House / SME Advies at info@duurzaam-huis.nl.

Should you wish to obtain any additional information about the house in detail, or on how to build a sustainable house, as well as the costs involved, you can contact our building contractor Moes Building at ph. +31 10 2842333, or the project developer Mr. Duijster (from Mitros) at ph. +31 30 2455910.