Today started at an early 5:00 AM, but if you want to see flowers at the world’s largest floriculture marketplace, you have to get there early. Therefore, after enjoying a double decker cheese and cucumber sandwich from the hotel, we boarded a bus and headed to Royal FloraHolland. When we first arrived at Royal FloraHolland, we learned many impressive facts about the operation. For example, they auction 22 million flowers a day. All these flowers pass through their building, which is the largest building in Europe and the same area as Monaco.
Their operation was a swarm of activity with thousands of carts of flowers all throughout their warehouse. I also saw hundreds of workers using quick electric scooters to move all of these flowers from sellers to buyers. Throughout the tour of their facilities, I learned about how Royal FloraHolland implements sustainable practices into their everyday operations. For example, by having solar panels on many of their buildings and by using electric vehicles to transport products in their warehouses, they are able to greatly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, by working directly with buyers and sellers, Royal FloraHolland can help to increase farmers’ income by cutting out middlemen.
After visiting Royal FloraHolland, we headed to Schoonschip and the NDSM area to visit the sustainable floating neighborhood and explore. I really enjoyed seeing how the floating neighborhood was constructed, and I loved hearing about all the things they considered along the way. I learned that the homes are built on a floating concrete base, and they typically have one story below the waterline and two above. There are many solar panels on the homes, and they operate a smart grid to share their electricity. I also learned that the water is brackish, so they are still connected to city water and sewer. While solar panels provide sustainable energy, it turns out that most of their climate control is powered by heat pumps. By using this technology, they greatly decrease their demand for electricity. Furthermore, while building their homes they used sustainable materials like pressed bamboo and local wood to further improve their environmental sustainability. They said that their overall goal is to be climate neutral. I really enjoyed seeing all of the thought that went into creating the floating neighborhood, and I think sustainable materials, smart grids, and heat pumps could be very beneficial in making housing in the United States more sustainable. After visiting the sustainable floating neighborhood, I even saw a crane that is now used as a small, three bedroom hotel.
After exploring, we enjoyed the nice weather with an outdoor group lunch. Once lunch was over, we took a ferry back to the train station and I went to the hotel where I am writing this now. I am excited to share more updates soon!
