Helix is the first TU/e building that will undergo an energy-efficiency makeover in light of the university’s ‘entrepreneurial cooperation’ with five technology partners. The economization will reduce the CO2 emission of Helix by twenty percent, and since Helix is by far the most energy-consuming building on campus (because of the extensive air treatment in the chemical labs), said reduction will contribute to the sustainability goals of the university significantly.
 
Another plus according to ing. Ronald van Nattem, head of Management and Maintenance at DH, is that the changes will allow an expansion of the lab facilities in Helix. “It will give us an opportunity to move the Biomedical Engineering laboratories to Helix, for example.” He feels the highly technological building is more suited to house the labs than Gemini. “Helix is too expensive to use for offices and lecture rooms, really, but we couldn’t expand the labs because the air management had its limitations.”