BREEAM Outstanding Interim certificate for ING head office
Brussels - The Marnix building, the iconic and modernist head offices of ING on Avenue Marnix/Marnixlaan, has recently been awarded a BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ Interim certificate1. ‘Outstanding’ is the highest possible certification according to the strict international BREEAM standards that classify buildings for sustainability and energy efficiency. Obtaining this ambitious certification for ING Marnix is one of the major goals of the renovation project that started a few years ago.
Every day, the bank supports its customers to improve the energy performance of their own buildings with with the ING Sustainable Buildings Guide. For the bank, it was therefore logical to subject its own headquarters to a thorough and sustainable renovation.
What makes the Marnix building BREEAM 'Outstanding'
The Marnix building was assessed in ten different categories, ranging from energy to ecology, including transport and waste management. Here are some examples that make the Marnix building an absolute pioneer in sustainability and energy performance:
- the roof is almost completely covered with vegetation and solar panels
- more than 1,260 windows of Marnix II and Marnix III have been replaced with new triple-glazed frames
- an underground reservoir can store up to 200 m³ of rainwater, which can be used for watering plants or sanitary purposes
- more than 9,940 m² of old carpet tiles have been recycled and made into new carpet tiles
- an external treatment of the façades using a photocatalyst will literally purify the surrounding air by capturing fine particles.
Hans De Munck, CFO of ING Belgium: ‘We are extremely proud of this building and that we have achieved the BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ Interim certification. The score of 91% is to the greatest credit of the teams involved, who have really paid attention to every detail in order to integrate sustainability and energy efficiency as extensively as possible in the renovation plans. This also ties in seamlessly with how our specialised teams and partners set about helping customers to make their homes or property portfolios more sustainable.’
About the Marnix building: The Marnix building is located in the heart of Brussels, covering an area of more than 45,000 m². It is the only building built by the famous American architect Gordon Bunshaft in Europe and dates back to the 1960s. The modernist building has been on the Brussels heritage preservation list since 2021. A2M – Moreno Architecture is the architectural firm behind this ambitious renovation, which began in 2022 and will be fully completed in the autumn of 2025.
1 The interim – or design stage – certification is an assessment based on the construction phase of the project.
Additional information:
Gianni De Muynck
About ING
ING Belgium is a universal bank that offers financial services to private customers, companies and institutional clients. ING Belgium SA/NV is a subsidiary of ING Group NV via ING Bank NV (www.ing.com).
ING is a global financial institution with a strong European base, offering banking services through its operating company ING Bank. The purpose of ING Bank is: empowering people to stay a step ahead in life and in business. ING Bank’s more than 60,000 employees offer retail and wholesale banking services to customers in over 100 countries.
ING Group shares are listed on the exchanges of Amsterdam (INGA NA, INGA.AS), Brussels and on the New York Stock Exchange (ADRs: ING US, ING.N).
ING aims to put sustainability at the heart of what we do. Our policies and actions are assessed by independent research and ratings providers, which give updates on them annually. ING’s ESG rating by MSCI was reconfirmed by MSCI as ‘AA’ in August 2024 for the fifth year. As of December 2023, in Sustainalytics’ view, ING’s management of ESG material risk is ‘Strong’. Our current ESG Risk Rating is 17.2 (Low Risk). ING Group shares are also included in major sustainability and ESG index products of leading providers. Here are some examples: Euronext, STOXX, Morningstar and FTSE Russell.