Oleon offices

Project description:

Heating with the residual heat from the production of an industrial process, it is possible! Oleon is a company specialised in converting natural greases and oils into a wide range of oleochemical products, such as oleic acids, glycerine, technical oils, special oleochemicals and biodiesel.

During this conversion, a great amount of heat is emitted, and Oleon, which has been awarded the Ecovadis Platinum Medal for sustainable business for several years in a row, did not want this to go to waste. Residual heat from the conversion process is used to heat the new building.

The new building started from a compact structure with a high-performance building envelope to minimise energy losses through transmission. The windows, their size and the type of glazing were then carefully planned with regard to thermal losses, daylight penetration and overheating in summer.

The offices also radiate transparency and openness thanks to the glass walls that face the circulation areas.

In addition, the need for active cooling was limited by installing sun screens. These are controlled automatically, however, manual adjustment is also possible by means of pushbuttons per room. The automated part of the sunblinds consists of a wind and sun guard. In case of high wind speeds, this has to ensure that the manual operation is “overruled”.

The design resulted in an industrial office building with sustainable and low-maintenance materials.