{"id":17331,"date":"2023-11-07T20:12:22","date_gmt":"2023-11-07T19:12:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swecobelgium.be\/?post_type=showroom_cpt&p=17331"},"modified":"2025-09-22T14:46:39","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T12:46:39","slug":"quartz-a-full-lifecycle-project","status":"publish","type":"showroom_cpt","link":"https:\/\/www.swecobelgium.be\/en\/showroom\/quartz-a-full-lifecycle-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Quartz, a full lifecycle project"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Quartz, a full lifecycle project<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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The Quartz office building in Brussels has replaced a dated office building. Poponcini & Lootens and Sweco designed a passive office building that complies with the NZEB criteria and was awarded a BREEAM Excellent certificate.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n \t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n

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Client<\/dt>\n
Cofinimmo <\/span><\/dd>\n
Location<\/dt>\n
Brussels<\/span><\/dd>\n
Period<\/dt>\n
2014-2020<\/span><\/dd>\n
Partners<\/dt>\n
POLO architecten<\/span><\/dd>\n
Services<\/dt>\n
special engineering, stability, facade engineering, EPB reporting, BREEAM, acoustical engineering, aftercare and monitoring<\/span><\/dd>\n
Surface<\/dt>\n
11.590 m\u00b2<\/span><\/dd>\n <\/dl>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n
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A sustainable development that will retain its value<\/h2>\n

To ensure that a project offers as much value tomorrow as it does today, it needs to anticipate the challenges of the future, such as a lower carbon footprint, a multi-purpose approach and the creation of a healthy environment. This BREEAM assignment for the Quartz building serves as the perfect showcase for the full lifecycle<\/a> ambitions of Sweco. With the know-how and long-term solutions of our interdisciplinary teams, clients, operators and\/or end users get to keep their sustainability<\/a> ambitions on track at every stage. That way, projects realised through a full lifecycle<\/a> partnership continue to meet the sustainability<\/a> ambitions set even after commissioning.<\/p>\n

Multiple sustainable measures, such as open climate ceilings and photovoltaic panels, limit the energy demands of this project. A cradle-to-cradle study was used to analyse the environmental impact of the building based on the BRE Global method and using IES VE software. Fully in line with our full lifecycle<\/a> ambitions, Sweco monitored the consumption of the finished building, as well as the comfort of its users. That way, the operator could continue to make optimal use of the building, resulting in a project that is guaranteed to retain its value in the long term.<\/p>\n

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BREEAM as a long-term philosophy<\/h2>\n

In the context of the BREEAM approach, operator Cofinimmo also enlisted Sweco for seasonal commissioning and aftercare once the building had been taken into use. Using data-driven working methods, the situation on the ground was monitored and analysed by our experts. Over the course of the first three years, this resulted in further optimisation in terms of energy consumption, in combination with the ideal level of comfort.<\/p>\n

During the initial phase, we created a detailed picture of the available meters, and we verified whether they were able to provide the necessary information. An annual report then showed the exact consumption, any gaps in the data, and any opportunities for improvement.<\/p>\n

Accurate measurements, accurate insights<\/h2>\n

The way in which energy is handled in a building is an essential element in determining its sustainability<\/a>. Quartz is equipped with a building management<\/a> system (BMS) that monitors the installed sensors and energy meters in real time and stores these data points for later processing. An initial analysis showed that the BMS was not recording certain data correctly, and that there were anomalies in terms of consumption \u2014 an issue that was preventing the data from being interpreted correctly. Sweco’s aftercare services revealed that some of the divergent results could be explained by the installations being some way off their ideal calibration. By using the BMS to improve the overall calibration of the systems, energy savings could be achieved in several areas.<\/p>\n

As a result, the BMS was able to supply as much data as possible over the coming years, including detailed logs of:<\/p>\n