Johnson Controls has opened a new OpenBlue Innovation Centre in Rotterdam, Germany.
The even began with an interactive demo taking visitors through the eight-step journey for old and new buildings to reach net zero, including assessment and advisory, road mapping, financing, technology upgrades, digitalization, and on-site renewable energy.
The final step – using the unique, all-in-one digital dashboard in the OpenBlue Net Zero Advisor to assess carbon footprints, set targets, manage emissions, and track progress – will be especially important to businesses in the coming years. Climate disclosures are becoming mandatory in the EU, the US, and many other countries, not only for building certification and environmental reporting, but also for financial regulation.
Visitors also experienced demos and models of sustainable building technology, including heat pumps that can run on less than half the energy used in conventional heating.
Connecting in real-time to two Johnson Controls facilities in Rotterdam and Gorinchem, visitors to the innovation centre can try out OpenBlue firsthand, and see its impact in action.
Tomas Brannemo, president of building solutions, EMEALA, at Johnson Controls, delivered the keynote address at the Rotterdam opening.
"We are on the cusp of historic building transformation that could help the world reach net zero in time to meet the 1.5 C Paris Agreement target, if we act swiftly,” he said.
“We can talk all day about the impact of building technology, but seeing is believing. At the OpenBlue Innovation Centre, we can peel back the bricks and mortar, and show how quickly digitalization and hyper-efficient, sustainable equipment can transform buildings from energy drains into net energy-positive assets that help businesses and wider communities decarbonize."
The Rotterdam centre is the first to open its doors in Europe and the ninth to join Johnson Controls' growing international network of OpenBlue Innovation Centres.
The chair of trade association, Techniek Nederland, Doekle Terpstra, said the new facility opens up new possibilities for the local building industry:
"If we wish to decarbonize, it is imperative for buildings to get smarter. Building automation and connected solutions are therefore becoming increasingly important for businesses of all sizes, in every industry,” he said.
“This centre will provide a new network for knowledge sharing, which will help us advance sustainable building transformation in the Netherlands."