The Green Village

What The Green Village does

The Green Village is an open-air laboratory (fieldlab) located on the TU Delft Campus in Delft, Netherlands, established in 2017 as a "regulation-light" testing environment for sustainable innovation in the built environment. The facility organizes its work around three core research themes: Sustainable Building and Renovating (energy-efficient, circular, biobased, and nature-inclusive construction), Future Energy System (local production, storage, and use of sustainable energy), and Climate-Adaptive City (addressing waterlogging, drought, and heat stress). Its infrastructure includes operational buildings housing 13 residents, enabling genuine real-world testing conditions for approximately 200 experiments, with 100 innovations having been scaled to practical applications and the site receiving roughly 20,000 visitors annually.

The organization serves a diverse multi-stakeholder community including researchers and academics, startups and entrepreneurs, government bodies and housing corporations, and students. Its core value proposition centers on providing a safe, regulatory-light environment that accelerates the path from concept to practical implementation, combined with specialized innovation trajectory guidance, knowledge of subsidy opportunities, and access to an extensive stakeholder and end-user network. The fieldlab facilitates industry collaboration through formal partnerships (e.g., the Paris Proof Portiekflat initiative with eight construction parties) and community engagement programs (e.g., the Verhitte Straat Challenge).

The Green Village's business model operates primarily through research partnerships, government/institutional funding as a TU Delft entity, and innovation guidance services rather than commercial pricing. Specific fees are not publicly disclosed. As a university-affiliated facility without venture capital, private equity, or third-party commercial ownership, The Green Village functions as an institutional R&D platform rather than a commercially scaled enterprise, with its parent institution TU Delft serving as the host and primary supporter.

Name

The Green Village

Legal name

The Green Village

Website

https://thegreenvillage.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Green Village is a TU Delft-affiliated open-air laboratory in Delft, Netherlands that provides a regulation-light testing environment for sustainable building, energy, and climate-adaptation innovations. It serves researchers, startups, housing corporations, and government bodies, having hosted 200 experiments and scaled 100 innovations to practice.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sustainable Innovation Research

NAICS

Environmental Consulting Services (541620), Nature Parks and Other Similar Institutions (712190)

SIC

Services-Testing Laboratories (8734)

akta.pro primary industry

Sustainable Cities, Urban Development & Green Infrastructure (BPADALAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Environmental Education, Capacity Building & Community Engagement (BPADALAO), Sustainability Engagement, Training & Behavior Change Programs (On-site) (BPABALAK)

Keywords

• Sustainable building research
• Outdoor laboratory testing
• Innovation field testing
• Climate adaptation research
• Built environment innovation

Headquarters

HQ city

Delft

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Research and Innovation Services: The Green Village provides a testing and experimentation platform for companies, researchers, and students to develop and validate sustainable innovations in a real-world setting. Revenue is generated through research partnerships, government funding (as a TU Delft institution), and innovation guidance services.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Green Village operates as an open-air outdoor laboratory (fieldlab) at TU Delft Campus, providing a regulation-light testing environment where researchers, startups, entrepreneurs, students, and governments collaborate on and validate sustainable innovations for the built environment. Its offering is organized around three research themes — Sustainable Building and Renovating, Future Energy Systems, and Climate-Adaptive City — and includes access to physical facilities with on-site resident occupants, structured innovation trajectory guidance, and connections to subsidy opportunities and stakeholder networks.

Product overview

The Green Village is an open-air laboratory (field lab) at TU Delft Campus, not a traditional product company. It offers access to a physical testing facility organized around three core research themes: Duurzaam bouwen en renoveren (Sustainable Building and Renovating), Toekomstig energiesysteem (Future Energy System), and Klimaatadaptieve stad (Climate-Adaptive City). The facility accommodates approximately 200 ongoing experiments, has helped scale 100 innovations into practice, and serves 13 residents. The organization provides tours and events for visitors (20,000 annually) and guides innovation trajectories for companies, researchers, and students.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Duurzaam bouwen en renoveren (Sustainable Building and Renovating)

Quantifiable outcome

• 100 innovations have been successfully scaled from the fieldlab to practical real-world applications

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• TU DelftcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTU Delft is the host institution of The Green Village. The fieldlab operates within the TU Delft Campus ecosystem, providing access to academic research expertise, student talent, and university resources. The partnership enables academic-industry collaboration on sustainable innovation challenges.
• Eight construction parties (Paris Proof Portiekflat initiative)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEight construction companies signed an intent declaration at PROVADA real estate fair for developing a Paris Proof Portiekflat (apartment building meeting Paris Agreement standards) at The Green Village. This initiative demonstrates the fieldlab's role as a testing ground for sustainable building innovations with industry collaboration.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• TNO: Dutch applied scientific research organisation with a much broader mandate (health, industry, energy). Comparable as a Dutch public applied-research entity with industry-partnership programs but not specialised in built-environment field labs.
• DTU (Technical University of Denmark): Danish technical university with sustainability and energy research campuses. Comparable as a sister European technical university running applied sustainability research with industry partnerships, but at broader institutional scale.

Direct peers

• Amsterdam Smart City: Amsterdam-based public-private partnership platform that connects innovators, residents, and government to test urban sustainability solutions. Directly comparable as a Dutch stakeholder ecosystem for sustainable urban innovation.
• BRE Group: UK Building Research Establishment operates innovation parks and testing facilities for sustainable construction. Direct comparable in building research, testing infrastructure, and stakeholder convening across industry and government.
• EnergyVille: Belgian research collaboration testing sustainable energy and intelligent energy systems in real conditions. Direct comparable as a European field-lab operator bridging academia, industry, and government on energy innovation.
• EnergyLab Nordhavn: Copenhagen-based urban energy field lab that tests sustainable energy innovations in a real district setting. Directly comparable to The Green Village as a city-scale testing ground for sustainable-built-environment innovation.

Others

• Wageningen University & Research: Dutch research university with extensive field-lab infrastructure. Comparable as a Dutch publicly-funded applied-research institution with on-site testing facilities, though focused on agriculture and food rather than built environment.
• EIT InnoEnergy: European innovation ecosystem supporting sustainable energy ventures from ideation to scale. Adjacent enabler rather than a field-lab operator — relevant as a downstream commercialisation channel for innovations tested at Green Village.
• DGNB: German Sustainable Building Council that certifies sustainable buildings. Complementary ecosystem player — not a direct competitor, but a key standard-setter whose requirements drive demand for Green Village's testing services.
• BREEAM: World's leading sustainability rating scheme for buildings, operated by BRE Group. Comparable as an enabling ecosystem player whose certification framework incentivises the testing and validation work Green Village performs.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/TheGrnVillage
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/thegreenvillage

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Green Village