Last year, it became apparent that there were significant temperature problems in the building, which opened in the autumn of 2024. Some rooms were too cold, others too warm.
The 2025 Health, Safety and Environment report ‘states that complaints regarding the temperature in the Herta Mohr building have been resolved’, student Council member Filip van Dijk noted during the Humanities Faculty Council meeting. ‘I think that’s a premature conclusion. The last time we met in this room, for example, it was extremely cold.’
‘The complaints that were known to us at the time of writing the report have been resolved’, responded Health, Safety and Environment Coordinator Yvonne Snelder. But that does not mean that there are no more problems, she explained. Nor are all complaints reported.
STRANGE PLOINK
‘It’s true that we have received reports recently that some rooms were either too warm or too cold’, added Margreet de Goede, a Facilities department staff member. ‘We’re looking into this in consultation with Real Estate.’
‘Please continue to report any complaints’, added Saskia Goedhard, Operations Portfolio Holder. Then Yvonne will come round with her measuring devices.’
Staff Council member Joost van den Berg: ‘In my office in the Herta Mohr building, the lights go out after five pm if I sit too still. Where can I report that?’ De Goede: ‘At the service desks.’ The same goes for noise complaints, Snelder added. ‘If you hear a strange ploink somewhere that drives you mad, make sure to let us know.’
The report states that three rooms in the Herta Mohr building have ‘patches of mould on the walls here and there, as well as fungi’. ‘It doesn’t seem to me that the climate in the building is under control yet’, remarked Van Dijk.
However, it turned out that the fungi in the offices were not due to a faulty climate control system, but to a leak on the outside of the building, Snelder explained. ‘Outside, there are small stones in a kind of tray, which apparently wasn’t sealed properly. The mould was probably caused by insulation that shifted when the tray was still leaking.’
NEW VENTILATION SYSTEM
Goedhard: ‘I’ve seen pictures of the mould. Of course, this is extremely undesirable.’ ‘Real Estate must address this immediately’, said Snelder. ‘In terms of the indoor climate, I think that’s very important’, said staff Council member Elmer Veldkamp. A damp room ‘obviously poses a health hazard’, according to Goedhard. ‘The users are in contact with the occupational health and safety service to ensure that the working environment is safe.’
The Huizinga building also has its share of problems. ‘There have been complaints about stuffiness because the newly installed windows have no ventilation grilles’, said Van Dijk.
According to the report, this is due to a lack of ventilation, causing the CO₂ level ‘to rise above the recommended values when the door is closed’. Humidity levels have also increased, (‘to the point where it is conducive to mould growth)’. According to Snelder, measures have already been taken in some rooms. ‘Eventually, a new ventilation system will be installed, making grilles unnecessary. But that system is not yet in place.’