De Ceuvel
De Ceuvel is working on a big quest to make the area as self-sustainable as possible. Building a digester to digest the kitchen waste into biogas for the kitchen and extract the nutrients and nitrates to be used as fertilizer for the fruit trees and a greenhouse on the roof that will be build summer 2015.
The houseboats are also one of De Ceuvels ongoing projects. They have been taken from the water to be repaired, placed on land and remade into workspaces and offices. The boats contain all different kinds of agencies - from communication companies to bee keeping, they are all in there!
The boats are not connected to a central sewage system, so instead they all have dry composting toilets and an individual greywater recycling system.
On the spot you can also find a very popular café, Café De Ceuvel. Though the café is connected to the sewage system, the plan is to have waterless toilets installed to collect pure urine. The urine will be then converted into fertilizer for the plants in the soon-to-come greenhouse.
Schoon Schip
By the end of 2015, the Cleantech Playground around De Ceuvel will be expanded to include a second location, also within the Buiksloter Harbour. The second project, called Schoonschip, is made up of 30 'waterhouses' meant for 47 households.
Because Schoonschip has a residential permit, the quantity of greywater produced will be significantly larger than at De Ceuvel, due to showers, washing machines and other household water appliances. The challenges at Schoonschip are bigger, but then so are the ambitions and the budget.
Metabolic
Most of the technology encompassing the cleantech playground at both De Ceuvel and Schoonschip derives from Metabolic.
Metabolic is a systems consulting and cleantech development firm that works with combining design and data-based analysis, optimizing the use of clean technology to maximize the synergy between people, technology and environment.
Are you interested in learning more? You can find a complete description of the projects here.