Founder Gideon Maasland first worked on the link between architecture and sustainability during his studies. The ecological projects of the early nineties were architectonically weak  and uninspiring. Convinced that there was a better way, Maasland studied the symbioses between sustainability and architecture.

Working at DKV Architects, Maasland expanded his research on sustainable architecture. The result was a series of inspiring lectures and pilot projects in which the relation between sustainability and architecture was emphasised. At KCAP, an international office for architecture and urban planning, he expanded his research even further. At both offices he initiated a task force on sustainability. Maasland brought his knowledge on architecture and sustainability into practice in (international) housing, school and office projects.

Nowadays more and more sustainable projects also have good architecture. Consequently the emphasis in the research is shifting from architectural inspiring to a more practical side. Which techniques can be combined best? Which techniques gain the most on sustainability, and which have the lowest investment costs? What’s the latest status on sustainable materialisation?

For larger projects we work with BREEAM, the international standard on sustainability calculations. For smaller projects we like to work with GPR, a Dutch programme similar to BREEAM, but more valuable in the design stage. Both programmes calculate a sustainability factor on topics such as energy, water, materials etc. In this way it becomes possible to compare separate and differing factors. The sustainability certificates also play an important role in the decision making and the publicity.