Sustainable echo
The new education building Echo is so sustainable that it produces energy: energy generated by solar panels is used to power laptops, lighting and catering services in the building, for example.
Text Annebelle de Bruijn
Around 91 percent of the furniture is reused. The mustard-coloured benches came from ING Bank where they had bright orange covers.
The biggest lecture hall holds 700 people and can be divided into two or three smaller spaces using blue soundproof panels.
Almost all the rooms are lined with blue felt to improve the acoustics which is made from recycled PET bottles.
Echo has 360 study places ranging from places for group discussions to places where you can study quietly on your own.
Solar panels with a combined area of 2124 m2 cover the entire roof.
There is room for 638 bicycles in the basement.
The Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science offers 1000 m2 of office space which can be accessed from the adjacent EEMCS building.
© Stephan Timmers