Circular Economy

This warehouse is one of the world’s greenest industrial buildings

"The Tube" outside the city of Tilburg Image: Rhenus

Rosamond Hutt
Senior Writer, Forum Agenda
This article is part of: Sustainable Development Impact Summit

With its futuristic curved design and daylight-infused interior it doesn’t look like a typical warehouse.

But the NewLogic III building, an office and warehouse space on the outskirts of the Dutch city of Tilburg, not only boasts a sleek exterior, it has stellar green credentials.

Judged one of the most sustainable industrial buildings in the world, its environmentally friendly features include solar panels that feed surplus energy into the grid, and toilets that flush with rainwater collected from the roof.

Triple-glazed windows and extra insulation help keep the building airtight. Image: TRILUX

The building – nicknamed “The Tube” because of its cylindrical design – is the Netherlands head office and distribution centre for multinational logistics company Rhenus.

This year it received the highest rating ever for a distribution centre from BREEAM (British Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method), which rates buildings’ sustainability.

BREEAM, which has assessed more than 569,000 buildings in 83 countries, gave NewLogic III a score of 99.48%.

Discover

What is the World Economic Forum’s Sustainable Development Impact summit?

Green by design

The 60,500m² warehouse and office space is airtight with extra insulation. A photovoltaic system on the roof consisting of 11,620 solar panels generates more electricity than the building consumes, with excess power going into the grid, meaning it is both energy and CO2 neutral.

Natural light flooding through large triple-glazed windows reduces the amount of electricity needed for lighting and makes it a more pleasant space to work in.

The building also features a heat pump, automatically dimming LED lighting, charging points for electric vehicles and technology that monitors water consumption and CO2 concentrations.

Have you read?

The Netherlands is building a reputation for sustainable architecture. The Edge, Deloitte Netherlands’ location in Amsterdam, has been hailed as the world’s greenest office space, achieving the highest BREEAM score in its category.

Cities going circular

The Tube and The Edge are examples of a broader trend as designers and urban planners try to build greener, more sustainable buildings and cities.

Whether it be using materials from abandoned buildings when constructing new ones or reducing energy consumption, numerous projects around the world are embracing the concept of the circular economy.

These projects aim to eliminate waste, and reduce, reuse and recycle where possible, to safeguard the environment.

Discover

What is a circular economy?

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Stay up to date:

Circular Economy

Related topics:
Circular EconomySustainable DevelopmentHealth and Healthcare Systems
Share:
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Circular Economy is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

Creating a plastic-free tourism sector is a challenge. Here's why it's worth it

Marina Novelli and Jo Hendrickx

October 16, 2024

5 experts on how trade and investment can facilitate circular electronics

About us

Engage with us

  • Sign in
  • Partner with us
  • Become a member
  • Sign up for our press releases
  • Subscribe to our newsletters
  • Contact us

Quick links

Language editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Sitemap

© 2024 World Economic Forum