Sustainable climate garden

Green walls not only instantly give a natural appearance to a building or any indoor space, but they also bring many benefits.

Green wall outside

Some of the benefits of a green facade include, among others:

• Influence on temperature;

• Holds water, economical water use and no waste;

• Contributes to biodiversity;

• Contributes to air purification;

• Produces oxygen;

• Vertical green works space-savingly;

• Longer lifespan of facade;

• Multifunctional space use;

• Sustainable living environment.

On a sunlit day, you immediately feel the temperature drop in the presence of greenery.

Interior planting

The beautiful tree that serves as an eye-catcher in the central hall of Van der Valk Hotel Venlo is a fine example of 'what greenery can do'.

Interior planting can also be used as a space divider. This makes spaces more efficiently used and interaction is much more central.

Aside from being good for the environment through, among other things, binding fine dust and releasing O2, interior planting offers a pleasant appearance and a healthy indoor climate. The systems offer even more advantages:

• Flexible plant wall system for indoor and outdoor;

• Creative freedom in design and plant selection facilitated by the easy exchange of plant cassettes and the contents of plant cups;

• In a closed water system, legionella has no chance;

• Simple installation and quick assembly;

• Nice, sleek, solid, and clean construction;

• Temperature and sound insulating;

• Low water consumption and low odor;

• Low maintenance and recyclable;

• Exclusive appearance and space-saving due to the compact system.

The climate is changing; weather influences are becoming more extreme, and flooding is increasing. Rain showers are less frequent but all the more intense when it does rain. It is therefore important to take this into account when choosing pavers and other forms of paving.

Sustainable concrete tiles
In the garden around the hotel, sustainable Old Dutch Schellevis concrete tiles, distinguished with the NL Greenlabel, have been used. The tiles are made with natural raw materials in an environmentally friendly production process. No harmful substances are released during production, and the material is 100% recyclable.

Grass concrete tiles
For Van der Valk Hotel Venlo, grass concrete tiles were chosen at the back of the parking lot as a water-permeable solution that buffers excess water and allows it to infiltrate into the ground. This prevents inconvenience.

The applied pavement contributes to an active climate policy and offers a water-permeable solution to reduce hard surfaces and increase greenery. A mixture of grass seed has been sown to give a greener appearance. This results in less water trouble on, for example, driveways and paths. By varying the models, you can create a wide range of patterns: sleek, irregular, or coherent. With a water-permeable paver, you can also be creative.

Under and between the paving, a bedding substrate in a specific ratio of topsoil/granulate 20-40 mm has been chosen. This creates a capillary working substrate allowing the grass to search for water while also allowing excess water to infiltrate. The percentage of granulate is for the stability of the sublayer so that traffic can still pass over it.

Semi-pavement of Dutch Crushed Stone

A creative solution has also been applied in the basement of the offices to store and reuse rainwater. Water that falls on the gravel (Dutch ballast) infiltrates the soil (topsoil) where a 10 cm gravel layer captures this water. When the soil and gravel layer are saturated, the excess water flows away to the water buffer (wadi). Ivy against the wall and grasses have been planted in the gravel. As a result, the whole area has been greened and has not become a gray stone mass.

The biggest sustainability achievement has been made in gravel extraction through the implementation of river expansion (water safety) and nature development associated with the extraction projects. These projects contribute to greater biodiversity, nature and landscape restoration, and stimulate the recreational development of Limburg. A win-win-win situation.

At the front of the hotel, between the prairie planting and adjacent to the terrace, a beautiful natural-looking pond with a fountain has been constructed. The filtration system is based on a natural system using plants withwater-purifying characteristics.

For this water feature, a helophyte filter is used. Such a filter purifies wastewater using helophytes to a quality that is harmless to the environment. The
purification efficiency of helophyte filters is high while energy consumption is low. Also a 2^ndwater feature is completely biologically filtered.

This way, the water remains pure without the use of artificial means and is a source for biodiversity in aquatic life. Important because species and ecosystems contribute to the production of oxygen, decomposition of dead animals and plants, pollination of plants, water purification, and pest control.

Climate adaptation and biodiversity loss are current themes. Through a carefully prepared planting plan, we contribute to strengthening biodiversity.

A biodiverse garden is a garden where as many species of plants, animals, critters, and organisms as possible feel at home. Biodiverse is essentially the ideal living climate. With the following concepts, we contribute our part to biodiversity.

Prairie planting
Prairie planting has been chosen, a unique planting concept that guarantees natural beauty, it is colorful and low maintenance. Prairie planting is sustainable and fits well with the changes in our climate. This concept is very suitable for application in a climate-friendly garden, has a natural appearance, and a positive effect on biodiversity. Additionally, 7 native plant species that come from the region around Venlo have been added.

A combination has been made with Rhododendron clouds so that the garden looks attractive and green all year round.

Multi-stemmed trees
Multi-stemmed climate trees complete the garden and contribute to biodiversity through the seeds and fruits they bear. The trees are carefully selected and each has its own contribution to climate and biodiversity. Over time, the trees will also grow into umbrellas over the terraces, preventing heat stress.

Rooftop trees
Also at the bicycle parking, consideration was given to placing a number of roof trees for extra shading. These roof trees grow into a 'natural sunshade' and thus contribute their part in combating heat stress.

Flower meadow
Here is a flower mixture combined with native forest plantation. A mixture with a high diversity of plants was chosen, with great emphasis on the blooming periods of nectar-producing flowers (forage plants). From March to November, nectar is provided for bees, hoverflies, butterflies, and other insects. These beneficial insects are part of the entire ecosystem and, in turn, serve as prey for birds, bats, and others.

This climate garden has become a wonderful place where you can sit on the terrace completely surrounded by greenery. Taking a stroll through the garden is also highly recommended. Every day you make a new discovery, you keep looking, and it never gets boring!

Here you find a wall covered with thermally treated wooden cladding, a sustainable and ecological alternative to the increasingly scarce hardwood from tropical rainforests. These strips are pressed and thermally modified at 200°C. This heat treatment without chemicals increases the stability, density, and hardness of the boards.

The latest trend is thermally modified Ash wood. The environmentally friendly steaming process makes the wood very durable, and the material is rightfully called European hardwood. Suitable for both cladding and decking. The material has a beautiful flame pattern and becomes uniformly brown due to the process.

A Sedum-herb mixture was chosen for the green roof, which will attract an even greater variety of insects.

Green roofs have significantly increased in popularity in recent years. Logical, because the benefits of green roofs have now been proven:

• The vegetation and the vegetation-bearing layer retain the rainwater and ensure a delayed drainage of the rainwater. As a result, the sewers are not burdened all at once with a large amount of water during peak showers.

• Green roofs promote biodiversity and create an attractive habitat for various animals and insects.

• A Sedum roof improves air quality by absorbing particulate matter and CO2.

• Green roofs increase the lifespan of the roofing.

• Green roofs counteract heat stress, among other things. Unlike concrete roofs, green roofs do not completely convert solar energy into heat energy. Additionally, water vapor is produced through evaporation. This has a cooling effect on the environment. Furthermore, ambient noises are muffled by the vegetation.

• Working and living in a green environment has a relaxing effect on people, reducing stress and providing more peace due to its natural appearance.

• A green roof fits better into the landscape and also offers more aesthetic value.

Wadi is actually the simple abbreviation of ‘water drainage through infiltration'. This is usually a lower or excavated piece of land where the rain pipe is disconnected and rainwater can be collected. Thanks to this simple technique, the water can calmly seep into the ground. In addition to being a suitable way to collect water, it also gives the environment a green appearance. Besides the capacity to retain rainwater, a climate wadi can hold water for planting. Especially during dry periods, this reduces the need for irrigation and provides a safe, low-maintenance, and green appearance. In this way, a natural biotope is created where animals and plants can live and reproduce. This wadi is ecologically managed, with the green structures of native flora and fauna as central elements.

When there is no space for a wadi, there is still the possibility to implement a deep infiltration of 5 meters, allowing you to infiltrate rainwater from approximately 150 m2 (with a rainfall of 50 mm).

The idea behind the greenhouse is to restore the connection between people and nature by bringing the garden and kitchen together. In the greenhouse, vegetables and herbs will be planted, which chefs can harvest fresh daily for use in the most delicious dishes!

The greenhouse is carefully maintained by several colleagues. The chefs can easily take their fresh herbs from the greenhouse and directly incorporate them into the dishes.

In this beehive live Carnica bees, a gentle bee colony. In this way, Van der Valk Hotel Venlo contributes to the bee population. In designing the garden, as much as possible, a bee-friendly planting plan was taken into account, allowing flowers to bloom throughout the year from which bees can collect nectar and pollen.

Nice to know; the retired, former manager of Herman Vaessen is the beekeeper who harvests honey, cares for the bees to prevent diseases, and thus also prevents the bees from swarming. In May, June, and July, the honey is harvested. During this period, a 'frame' is taken from the beehives weekly and served at the breakfast buffet for delicious, fresh, organic honey! The rest of the honey is extracted and used in the restaurant's kitchen. In August, as a thank you for their hard work, the bees are fed with sugar so they can peacefully overwinter.