World's Greenest Office

The Edge office building in Amsterdam is the world’s most sustainable building.

17:14 07 April 2016

The Edge office building in Amsterdam is dubbed as the world’s greenest office. It boasts lots of natural light, a gym that allows employees to contribute to the energy supply of the office, and a whole range of clever technology to make the building sustainable.

 

Dutch firm OVG, the developers behind the building, liked it so much that they moved in when it was finished.

 

The building was designed by London-based architects PLP Architecture and boasts smart ceilings that are embedded with 28,000 sensors that measure temperature, humidity, motion and light. Workers can control these via a series of apps on their smartphones to maximise natural light while saving on electricity.

 

However, not all employees are fans of these smart technologies. When The Edge first opened in September 2014, only around 20per cent of the employees checked themselves in via the app. The number quickly fell down and is now at only 1per cent.

 

Facilities manager Wybe Van der Mey said: "We hoped everyone would check in to their desks daily but they haven't done that."

 

He added: "The dream of a facilities manager is to tell people where to go based on available space. Technically it is possible, but behaviourally it is not. People want to go to the same place every day and sit with their peers."