VanWonen joins movement to accelerate sustainability of the concrete supply chain

The twenty-one affiliated development parties that have signed are: 3W Real Estate, a.s.r. real assets, Aalberts, AM, AW Groep, BakkersHommen, Blauwhoed, De Nijs, Delta Development Nederland, DHG, Edge, Montea, Prologis, Provast, Stebru, Sustay, Trebbe, Van Wijnen, VanWonen, VORM and Wonen Limburg. They are building on the letter of intent signed in 2024 by a core group comprising Dura Vermeer, Heijmans, BAM, TBI-bouwondernemingen J.P. van Eesteren, ERA Contour, Hazenberg en Koopmans, Synchroon, Achmea Real Estate, BPD | Bouwfonds Gebiedsontwikkeling and the Central Government Real Estate Agency.

By involving even more parties, ranging from project developers and property developers to construction companies, the movement toward a sustainable concrete supply chain is both broadened and deepened. Together, the participating parties represent a dominant share of the market. This acceleration ensures that approximately 70 percent of concrete used within residential and commercial construction, as well as property development, will be low-carbon. The goal is to keep driving this movement forward, with even more commissioning parties signing on.

This initiative has been aligned with fifteen real estate asset managers and housing associations committed to a CO₂ reduction trajectory. Together, these fifteen parties account for more than 60 billion euros in invested capital and tens of thousands of planned new rental homes in the coming years.

Dorien Staal, member of the Concrete Agreement Steering Committee and driving force behind the initial core group: “With this step, commissioning parties are showing that low-carbon concrete is no longer a choice, but an inherent part of their tendering. That is exactly what is needed for the scaling up of low-carbon and circular concrete.”

From ambition to specific tendering
By signing this letter of intent, the signatories pledge to actively drive sustainable concrete solutions in their projects. In practice, this means that starting in 2026, ten to twenty percent of their contract tendering will require ambitious, leading-edge targets for CO₂ reduction. The remaining contracts will be subject to progressively stricter emission caps in line with the Concrete Agreement. In addition, they commit to the uniform monitoring of the environmental impact achieved and to sharing knowledge and experiences within the sector.

Jacqueline Cramer (chair of the Concrete Agreement): “By joining forces and setting the same sustainability requirements, a tipping point is created in the market. This provides clarity for producers and stimulates the development and application of sustainable concrete solutions on a large scale.”

The Concrete Agreement aims to achieve a CO₂ reduction of at least 70 per cent and full circularity by 2030 compared to 1990. In recent years, the Dutch concrete sector has invested heavily in low-carbon binders, circular raw materials, and innovative production methods. Increased demand from commissioning parties is helping to further scale these innovations. This is an essential prerequisite for actually achieving sustainability.

Broad support for acceleration
Peter Hutten, CEO of Van Wijnen Groep: “Sustainable innovations must be scalable. That is the only way to ensure they are future-proof and that housing stays affordable. We believe in green concrete, so signing the Concrete Agreement is a natural step for us. By sharing knowledge and collaborating more closely, we can reduce the CO₂ emissions from concrete even faster. This is how we at Van Wijnen contribute to affordable housing and, at the same time, to a cleaner and more circular concrete supply chain.”

Boris van der Gijp, co-chair and director of Investments at Achmea Real Estate: “Making the construction sector more sustainable requires commitment from all parties. As a commissioning party, we do not wish to sit back and wait; we want to actively contribute to the upscaling of low-carbon concrete. By expressing clear ambitions together, we create the certainty needed to accelerate the adoption of sustainable innovations. It is great to see that following the launch of the core group in 2024, this commitment is now even more widely supported.”

Fahid Minhas, director of NEPROM (association of Dutch property developers): “Making the built environment more sustainable requires collaborative efforts across the entire supply chain. This letter of intent demonstrates that commissioning parties and builders are jointly taking responsibility for reducing CO₂ emissions. This is precisely the momentum needed to scale up sustainable innovations and turn them into the new market standard.”