Last year, Ballast Nedam Development became the first residential developer in the Netherlands to kick off the market for carbon credits derived from developing and building climate positive homes. Now the company has introduced carbon credits for apartments, through its Horizon’s project in Amsterdam.

Natuurhuis, or Nature House, first hit the headlines last year, when Ballast Nedam Development announced its plans to develop climate positive homes which were built of wood and insulated with straw, with a green roof and walls and built-in nests for birds and insects.

The company has since signed a partnership with Climate Cleanup Foundation to attach a monetary value to the CO2 storage in the project. While the Natuurhuis’s biobased materials – timber, hemp and straw – grow, they take in CO2 and store it. By putting a price on that storage, climate-positive building projects can compete with projects that use more polluting materials such as concrete and steel.

“The shockwave this created is a signal carbon credits will become an integral part of real estate development,” says chief executive Onno Dwars.  “Carbon credits will shape how buildings will look, how they behave and what role a real estate developer will play in society.”

The attention the move generated abroad means this way of developing and the knowledge it requires could become “one of the Netherlands’ most important export products,” he says. “By creating new business models the ever-growing need to achieve sustainability ambitions and create affordable homes without subsidised efforts from the government is closer to becoming a reality.”

Currently, people buying a home in the Netherlands can borrow up to €50,000 on top of the value of their property when taking out a mortgage, if their new home has the best possible energy label.

“Now the carbon credits market has become real, we expect new mortgage agreements to incorporate this as well,” Onno says. “And the best practices which have been learned, will also benefit subsidized and social housing. The more we use carbon positive techniques, the cheaper it will get. As soon as supply is up to speed, prices will drop and compete with current building practices.”

Ballast Nedam Development believes that energy-efficient designs, integrated water management systems and green urban development are crucial to offsetting the impact of climate change. Public-private partnerships, strong long-term public policies by the national government and a supporting financial system that prioritizes sustainable and climate-adaptive homes are, Onno says, essential to ensure sustainability and affordability on the road to a climate-neutral, or perhaps climate-positive 2050.

Both the Nature House near Eindhoven and Horizons Amsterdam will come on the market before the end of 2024.

“Carbon credits are real and it is only a matter of time before they impact on the entire industry,” says Onno. “Property developers are excited by the concept and as well as being motivated to achieve a high performing product that does good for the world. Carbon credits in residential housing will rapidly change both companies and lives.”

You can meet Onno and the rest of the Ballast Nedam Development team at the Holland Metropole stand at Expo Real from October 7 to 9. Hall 2, stand 130.

Illustrations:

The Natuurhuis near Eindhoven project is energy positive

Horizons Amsterdam is part of Amsterdam’s Sluisbuurt area development project