TU Delft opens sustainable, energy producing building

TU Delft opened its sustainable Echo building to students and lecturers on Monday. The building is made largely out of sustainable and recycled materials and generates more electricity than it uses, the technical university said. It also includes a bicycle cellar with parking spots for 600 bikes to facilitate sustainable transport.

The four-story building, including catering establishments, lecture halls, study spaces, and offices, will be fully operational after the summer. It is one of the steps in TU Delft's plan to have a CO2-neutral and circular campus by 2030.

"Echo is the first energy-generating building on the TU Delft Campus. With the help of solar panels, all energy for the power consumption of laptops, lighting, and catering is generated, and there is still left at the bottom of the line," said Kübra Öztürk, TU Delft's construction project manager. "Bamboo and recycled PET bottles were used as building materials. And no less than 90 percent of the furniture in the building has been reused."

Echo is intended to keep up with the growing number of students and their changing needs. The seven lecture halls are built to encourage flexibility, with sockets incorporated into the floor to make it easier to arrange rooms differently. For example, the largest lecture hall, with space for 700 students, can be separated into three rooms.

"This great adaptability is also a form of sustainability: it allows the building to continue to meet the wishes of new generations of users," the university said.