Urban heating, or at least the increase thereof, has been in the spotlight for some time. And the basic effects were known to me. But after hearing a lecture by Math Santamouris during a recent Conference, a whole new world… Continue Reading
Some time ago , I was in a meeting for writing a biobased building manifest. Very interesting discussions, which were hardly ever held at the policy level. Although I get signals that the discussion about the impact of materials, as… Continue Reading
Amsterdam needs around 50,000 charging points for electric cars. 50,000? Really? Have we gone completely nuts or what? Doesn’t alarm bells start ringing: “What the hell are we doing?” Where do all these raw materials come from, and the energy… Continue Reading
The introduction to the Dutch version of my book was headed: the world on fire. ( after summer in English available!) “Well”, was often the reaction, “a bit exaggerated, isn’t it? Sounds like doomsday thinking right?” But it is not… Continue Reading
(letter send to party leaders in parliament) 1 The annual increased installation of solar panels makes CO2 emissions rise. This is because solar panels need about 3 years to compensate for their CO2 during production. So if more solar panels… Continue Reading
It sometimes seems that the built environment, and the adjustments to achieve a sustainable society, are of the same nature everywhere. But that is by no means the case when we zoom out, to Europe for example. There should be… Continue Reading
A little bit of history this time, especially about the Dutch Energy Strategy of 1974. In the period leading to that bill, we had two moments in history where we had taken the wrong turn . In the 19th century… Continue Reading
Big headlines in Nature last week: [1]” Emissions are still rising: disaster up the cuts “And” Leaders at climate summit get bad news: CO2 emissions are rising again “. Astonishing that may not be, however: if the economy continues to… Continue Reading
If we want to solve the problem with CO2 emissions in practice, then we have to assess CO2 emissions, and nothing else, as I argued earlier. And we do not. As for much of our policies or our building and… Continue Reading
Looking for answers in areas that are not my specialism , I recently took along three books on holiday. And that was a very interesting choice, as well as the coincidental order in which I read them. I understand –… Continue Reading