This is the most energy-efficient owner-occupied home in Brabant

The energy-efficient villa is located on a plot of over seven thousand square meters in a park-like garden. With a large pond on the terrace and a walkway over it. The plot has been in the hands of the Haagen family for many years.

Owner Jac Haagen (69) leaves his house on Kapelstraat behind with a heavy heart. His grandmother’s house once stood on this property. “We demolished that house and then built this new house in 2014.”

Jac himself has a technical background. He saw making his new house as energy efficient as possible as a challenge. The house is equipped with very good insulation on all sides. The glass is HR+++, there are very heavy insulation plates on the roof, with the thatched roof on top.

“We did not include the reed in the required insulation values, so that is an additional layer of insulation.” The house is heated using a ground source heat pump. The required electricity is generated by 64 solar panels, which are located in a shed at the back of the yard.

Jac had heard the idea for ceiling heating somewhere before. “I knew someone who had done some tests with it, so I came up with the idea and we started working on it.” The ceiling contains tubes through which hot water passes in the winter, so that the ceiling gives off heat. “This provides an extra heat shield throughout the house and ensures optimal energy supply.” In the summer, cold water can pass through, allowing the system to cool the house.

Thanks to all these sustainable applications, Jac’s gas and electricity meter has a balance of zero every year. Because he returns the energy that he generates too much in the summer to the energy company. “I use that in the winter, so I haven’t paid a cent on energy for years,” he explains.

Although he is now also looking around for a battery in which he can store self-generated energy. Because from 2027, the amount you receive for supplying self-generated energy will be lower, the government has determined.

What immediately attracts attention in the house is the glass facade in the living room, which extends from the top to the very bottom of the basement. Down there is a large office, a laundry room, a technical room and a wine room.

On the ground floor you walk straight from the country kitchen into the living room. The room has a gas fireplace and a spacious view of the garden. There is also a bedroom with a bathroom on the ground floor.

On the second floor there are two bedrooms and a bathroom. The two rooms are connected by a glass walkway, which is also visible from the living room. Anyone who wants to walk from the house to the associated garage does not have to go through wind and weather thanks to a glass passage. The villa has a living area of ​​216 square meters and an asking price of 1,485,000 euros.

“It is a beautiful house, I will say goodbye to this place with tears in my eyes when it is sold. But on the other hand, we are also getting older, fortunately. We want to buy an apartment in Baarle-Hertog and we already live partly in Knokke.”

Although he realizes that living in an apartment is different from living in complete freedom on this green yard in Baarle-Nassau. “That’s what I’m going to miss the most, that freedom. So to speak, I can walk naked through the garden for an hour if I want and no one will see it. Living in an apartment is a completely different experience, but that is also very nice.”