Press Release – Insulating Amsterdam’s national monuments with natural materials

The subsidy has been awarded to the LIFE BIOMATINE project. The project aims to demonstrate, together with its partners, that biobased insulation materials are suitable for making even historic social housing and monuments more sustainable. The project is an initiative of the City of Amsterdam.

Impact of Biobased Insulation

Residents and users of the two buildings currently face high energy bills and poor indoor climate conditions.

Biobased insulation offers many benefits to residents. It helps maintain better humidity levels, allowing for lower heating in winter. It also contributes to a stable indoor climate, keeping homes warmer in winter and cooler in summer, reducing heat stress. Additionally, biobased insulation is free from harmful chemicals and regulates moisture, creating a more comfortable and healthier living environment. People with allergies or respiratory issues benefit particularly from these features.

For contractors and builders, working with natural materials is healthier and more pleasant. Moreover, biobased materials store CO₂ throughout their entire lifecycle, unlike traditional insulation materials, which generate significant CO₂ emissions during production and transport.

Calculated Impact
In this project specifically, the use of 2,500 m³ of biobased materials avoids 350,000 kg of CO₂ emissions compared to fossil-based materials—equivalent to the emissions of an average family over 35 years. In the Spaarndammerbuurt housing, energy consumption (2.5 million kWh/year) and CO₂ emissions from heating (over 450,000 kg CO₂/year) are reduced. Thanks to the improved energy label, heating costs for the 1,391 residents will also decrease.

National Approach to Biobased Construction
Biobased insulation materials are made from agricultural residues such as flax, hemp, and wood fiber. Cultivating these raw materials offers regional farmers an attractive alternative income model. Straw (a by-product of grain), hemp, and wood fiber grow quickly under diverse conditions. Amsterdam is therefore a partner in the National Approach to Biobased Construction. Together with housing corporations and the Central Market Hall, the city supports the demand for biobased insulation, which both helps farmers transition and makes construction more sustainable.

EU Subsidy Program
The subsidy comes from the European Commission’s LIFE and Environment program, which supports initiatives in nature and biodiversity, the circular economy, climate adaptation, and the energy transition.

Project Partners
The City of Amsterdam works with housing corporation Lieven DeKey, the foundation managing historic properties Stichting BOEi, and experts in natural-material insulation such as De Groene Grachten and Building Balance to accelerate and scale the circular transition in the construction sector.