Architects love to be able to design and build an iconic tower. And a city counselor can leave his signature with it. Well, it happens that the world is urbanizing, and that we see a lot of high-rises in planning,… Continue Reading
Since it looks as if we are going to introduce the climate measures for buildings mainly via municipalities or cities, I have recovered some of my older research material about urban sustainability, developed when I worked at Wageningen University. The… Continue Reading
In principle, its impossible to create a 0-embodied energy house, energy will always be needed. However, in the present time 0-embodied energy it is understandable as 0-fossil embodied energy, exa house exclusively based on renewable energy. 0-embodied energy, if that… Continue Reading
There are some strange excesses in the need for more sustainability, and especially with regard to the undefined “greening” of things. One of these, and you notice it more and more, is the tendency to plant trees on buildings. Not… Continue Reading
It is remarkable that the kg/m2 approach for buildings , as described in the previous article, is nearly completely absent. That is, nowadays. More then 100 years ago it was regularly used a a criterion in architectural competitions, the lower… Continue Reading
Strange, really, that calculating in kWh seems normal for everyone. Especially in this time, because kWh does say nothing about the origin of the energy, which can be anything, from labor, wind turbines, or coal to nuclear energy. Currently it… Continue Reading
(master-classes on this topic and others, see on the right) ” What is Circular Building really?” , a Dutch journalist twittered, being confused about the debates going on. Its not clear yet, apparently, so lets give it a try. The… Continue Reading
Last week, was a week with some Aha moments, and forced to rethink a few issues. Among these a continued discussion in The Netherlands with Jan Willem van de Groep, the passionate protagonist of Nill Onthe Meter retrofits (NOM). Nothing… Continue Reading
For my final thesis during my study, I had to design a small theater. And since I combined studies in architecture and building physics, the question was how to combine these two. Nobody knew in the University. (And today, that… Continue Reading
Around 150 years ago, started the big party for architects . Except for the elevator, the consequences of which I wrote in a previous article , many new other inventions came available, thanks to fossil energy: (reinforced) concrete, steel, glass,… Continue Reading