SADC (Schiphol Area Development Company) wants to realize the most sustainable logistics business park in the world. To realize that ambition, the organization was looking for a way to make ecology measurable and discussable in planning and design processes.

Commissioned by SADC and in close collaboration with Buiting Advies, who defined the ecological parameters and scoring system, PosadMaxwan developed the Ecomonitor SADC: a digital tool that brings together ecological knowledge and data in an accessible form.

Additional insights were gathered from Wageningen University and knowledge institutes such as AMS Institute and TU Delft.

What the Ecomonitor SADC does
The Ecomonitor SADC combines ecological expertise with GIS data. This allows the tool to map the current ecological value of a location, calculate and compare future scenarios, and monitor the development of natural values over time. The strength lies in the combination: complex enough to reliably analyze ecological patterns, but simple enough to be widely applicable. The tool is scalable, applicable to different areas and supportive of conversations between designers, developers, administrators and ecologists.

Development in phases
The Ecomonitor SADC is being developed in four phases:

Phase 1 - Foundation
Construction of a Digital Twin and development of parameters and methodology to assess the ecological quantity and quality of building land and design scenarios.
Phase 2 - Refinement and scale-up.
Expand and refine parameters, increase acceptance within the organization, and expand application to larger areas.
Phase 3 - Communication and use.
Adding functionalities for communication, monitoring and reporting. These include interactive manuals and visualizations, improved user experience and reporting capabilities, deployment of remote sensing and additional data, and application to new locations within the Schiphol Trade Park.
Phase 4 - Prototype and field test
Earlier this year, the first working prototype of the Ecomonitor SADC was launched. The tool provides a practical and user-friendly tool that provides insight into ecological values such as green structures, biodiversity and water storage. To further improve user-friendliness and support within SADC, interactive sessions were organized. Meanwhile, a broader testing phase has started in the second half of 2025 at various locations. Initial reactions are positive, and the potential of the Ecomonitor SADC extends beyond industrial sites.

Our role
Where SADC formulated the ambition, our Digital Cities team provided the translation into a practical, digital tool. We designed the methodology, developed the interactive platform and guided its application in design processes.

To us, the Ecomonitor SADC is a great example of how data, design and ecology come together. It shows how digital tools help policy makers and design teams make complex sustainability goals concrete, and how they guide choices in practice.

Integrated urban design for sustainable and healthy environments.

Research