The monumental building of the Royal Tropical Institute, the KIT, will stop using gas. This makes Plantagelid KIT the largest national monument in Amsterdam that turns off the gas tap. KIT will use underground heat and cold storage to heat the historic building. The hotel building on the KIT campus will also stop using gas.
Tropen Hotel
The reason for KIT’s switch to gasless heating is the renovation of KIT’s hotel on the site: the Tropen Hotel. The hotel building – a concrete tower from 1969 that originally served as accommodation for international students and KIT guests – is being thoroughly renovated inside and out. The central heating system, which also supplies the monumental main building with heat, will also be replaced. The plan to make the hotel but also the KIT building more sustainable is a challenge. With a floor area of about 33,000 m2, that is five football fields, the Royal Tropical Institute is the largest national monument in Amsterdam that runs on gas. The project involves an investment of around 3 million euros, an amount that KIT expects to be able to recoup within a period of approximately 10 years. It also makes KIT less dependent on fluctuating energy prices.
The historic KIT building and site at Oosterpark is a leading sustainability hotspot in the city. It houses a knowledge center for sustainable development, an environmentally friendly hotel, state-of-the-art facilities for conferences and events, and a café-restaurant with garden terrace. The Tropenmuseum, which has been separated from KIT as an organization since 2015, is also still located in the historic KIT building.
Source; oost online