ING Closes Some Amsterdam Offices on Fridays to Save Energy

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ING Groep NV decided to close three of its main offices in Amsterdam’s Southeast district on Fridays to save energy amid low occupancy.

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The decision is part of a pilot project starting in January as the Dutch bank aims to save more than 150,000 kilowatt hours per month, comparable to the average monthly energy consumption of 122 households. The occupancy in those offices on Fridays was already below 10%, according to a LinkedIn post by an ING employee. 

An ING spokesperson confirmed the plans to Bloomberg on Saturday.

ING’s office closures follow a similar move by the Dutch statistics agency Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, or CBS. The agency shuts some of the floors at its buildings in The Hague and Heerlen on Fridays to save 8% on its energy bills, according to Dutch newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad.

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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has upended relations with Europe’s most important energy supplier, prompting governments and companies across the continent to take measures to weather soaring prices.

In the meantime, many corporate employees in the Netherlands and across the world continue to enjoy flexible work arrangements after the pandemic fueled a shift in attitudes about work. The Dutch parliament even approved legislation to establish work-from-home as a legal right, making the Netherlands one of the first countries to grant remote working flexibility by law.

The legislation was approved by the lower house of the bicameral parliament of the Netherlands in July but it still needs a nod from the Dutch senate before its final adoption.