New green home for EIB

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has inaugurated its new building on a site next to its existing headquarters on the Kirchberg plateau in Luxembourg. The larger premises now allow the bank to accommodate its entire staff on a single campus.

The opening ceremony was graced by the presence of HRH the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, along with the Governors of the EIB, the EU's Finance Ministers. Speakers included Jean-Claude Juncker, Prime Minister and Finance Minister of of Luxembourg, José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, and Andrej Bajuk, Slovenia's Finance Minister and current President of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council.

Environmental and energy concerns were key to German architect Christoph Ingenhoven's design. The glass shell enveloping the building makes maximum use of natural light while winter gardens and atria provide thermal insulation and natural ventilation, keeping energy consumption to a minimum. The building complies with the most stringent environmental standards, even exceeding legal requirements. It is the first building in continental Europe and one of the first in the world to be awarded the UK's Building Research Establishment's Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) "high environmental quality" certification with the rating "very good".