Colleague Inge Westerink: From musicals to sustainability guru at CFP Green Buildings

Meet Inge Westerink, an energetic sustainability consultant at CFP Green Buildings. With a surprising switch from the theater spotlights to the spotlights of sustainability, Inge is a source of inspiration for anyone who believes that change is possible. In this interview, she talks about her passion for sustainability and her experiences at CFP, from in-depth CO2 analyses to innovative projects that really make a difference. Let yourself be inspired by Inge’s story about making our world greener and healthier, one building at a time.

Can you introduce yourself briefly and tell us about your role at CFP Green Buildings?

My name is Inge Westerink, I’m 32 years old and I have been working at CFP Green Buildings as a Sustainability Consultant for almost a year now. I focus on various projects including ESG strategy development and reporting, CO2 reporting, and WELL and BREEAM certification processes.

What does sustainability mean to you personally and professionally?

In my personal life, I have been working on making my life more sustainable since 2020. At that time, I watched the documentary ‘The True Cost’ and it completely changed my perspective on consumption and the economic system. I then started to take a close look at my own consumption patterns and how I could make a contribution with the choices I made as a consumer. To increase my impact, I started sharing my journey towards a more sustainable existence on Instagram and my own blog called ‘Sustainability with Inge‘. Wanting to increase my impact eventually grew into my career. Because there is much more to be achieved for organizations than for one consumer. I am very happy that I can now help several companies at the same time to make their buildings and organizations more sustainable.

Can you describe a project you’ve worked on at CFP that had a significant impact on sustainability?

The insight that our work creates is one of the most beautiful things. That’s where sustainability starts, becoming aware of what you can do to improve and incorporating that into your strategy and action plan. This has a direct impact on many organizations because it makes sustainability very concrete. For example, I recently delivered a CO2 report where the client told me that the outcome was so surprising to them. Without this insight, they would never have taken the same steps, and it’s cool to be able to contribute to that. In addition, we make a lot of impact by making the costs of sustainability projects and the related payback time transparent. In the long term, sustainability is often a good choice financially. We break the stigma that the word ‘sustainable’ carries: namely that it is expensive.

“Sustainability starts with understanding what you can do to improve, and incorporating that into your strategy and action plan.”

– Inge Westerink, Sustainability Consultant at CFP Green Buildings

What is the most challenging aspect of working on sustainable projects?

The most challenging aspect is that the industry is continuously evolving and we are actually pioneers shaping legislation and standards for the real estate industry. Legislation and standards often give direction but need additional expert input. If our clients can’t figure it out themselves, they come to us for advice. We then solve it for them. This involves a lot of innovation. It’s challenging but also very rewarding.

What successes have you achieved in the field of sustainability that you are most proud of?

Personally, one of the biggest successes is that I have embarked on a new sustainable career path. I have a background as a musical artist. With a lot of passion, courses, and especially a drive to learn a lot, I have managed to make this step. In addition, I now have about 11,000 followers on Instagram whom I can inspire about how to make your life more sustainable. Personally, I have also turned the wheel; I buy much less and what I buy is of high quality and preferably from sustainable and/or local brands. I also eat much less meat and try to travel as much as possible by public transport and electric car instead of flying. 

How would you describe the culture of CFP Green Buildings in terms of sustainability and collaboration?

CFP Green Buildings is a company that focuses on making as many existing buildings as possible more sustainable for their clients. The company has already provided insight and helped improve 3.5 million buildings, an impressive number. In addition, the company has recently also been B Corp certified, and has an EcoVadis Silver certification. A beautiful step to also gain insight into the sustainability of the company itself and to further improve it.

At CFP, we work with self-managing teams. This means that you have to take the initiative yourself if you need help from colleagues. Because of this structure, everyone is always open to helping each other. This way we learn from each other and ensure that we can deliver the best advice or product to the client.

What or who inspires you to work on sustainability every day?

The fact that I can contribute to improving and making the living or working environment of other people more sustainable is what makes me happy. Ultimately, making our buildings more sustainable is not only good for the planet but also for the building users. This makes us all healthier, and that inspires me to do what I do.

In addition, improving working conditions in the value chains of the products and materials that companies purchase is a major motivation. I am convinced that if we would not accept certain working conditions here in the Netherlands, we should also not accept them in the value chains of the products and materials we purchase. I hope to be able to contribute even more to this in the future.

What trends or innovations in the field of sustainability do you find most interesting?

Dutch Green Building Council has recently published a guideline on Scope 3 CO2 reporting for the construction sector. I find this a nice development because it will ensure that the industry will soon be reporting on the impact of the company in this area in a comparable way. Also, the impact of the materials we use in the real estate sector is highlighted here. Currently, there is still a lot of specific data missing from the suppliers of these materials in the form of Environmental Product Declarations (or EPDs). These are based on a life cycle analysis (also known as LCA). The LCA+ development is very interesting. It looks at the impact of the entire life cycle of a material up to and including the processing and recovery of the materials at the end of the life cycle. A circular perspective. This perspective can help us to apply and process materials in a different way in the future.

What skills or qualities do you think are important for new colleagues at CFP who want to contribute to sustainability? 

First of all, I think you should not be afraid to try new things and to develop. Innovation is extremely important to develop a more sustainable real estate sector and we contribute to this. For this, you additionally need creativity, analytical thinking, and a solution-oriented attitude, and it is important to be empathetic towards your clients. Every client has a different reason to start working on sustainability. Really understanding this is important to be able to adjust your advice accordingly.

Also working at CFP?

What would Inge like to say to people considering working at CFP Green Buildings? “This is really a place where you can learn a lot and also steer which knowledge you want to gain with the projects you work on. We regularly have evaluations to see if we are energized by the projects we work on. These are moments to look at the impact you want to make and how you can continue to increase it.”