Life has an end, but is there also an ‘end of life’, for products and buildings? Which is frequently used in science, like in building evaluations calculating with a maximum life span, but seems weird. It is understandable in trade,… Continue Reading
Researchers and other involved parties are regularly at odds with each other: does buying an electric car compared with a fuel driven car reduce CO2 emissions or not. A few weeks ago, another such investigation was in the news. [1]… Continue Reading
When can we expect a real CO2 lockdown, some wondered, after reading my previous comtributions. Good question. Months ago, someone also asked how I saw the future in 20 years, following an article about predictions from 20 years ago[1]. That… Continue Reading
Nitrogen levels are too high, as are levels of particulate matter, too much manure, CO2 emissions continue to rise, as does methane emissions, biodiversity drops dramatically, the agricultural land is exhausted, natural gas fields collapsing, heat waves of 40 degrees,… Continue Reading
This is an extended version of a previous post on linked in, which had a lot of reactions.. {april 2019} When it comes to Embodied Energy, we are used to normalize this over the lifespan of a building (… 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
The Tetra Materia (see previous article) approach might be useful for practice, its not the whole story. It guides direction, but does not set targets. And our system has an overall limit as well. Materials, even renewables, come exclusively from… Continue Reading
( picture: borrowed from: Agent Bob) … Well, then, what is a circular road? was a question that was asked , after the previous article. To answer, lets first analyze what happens when constructing a highway with current approach. Then… Continue Reading
And of we go, to Kate Raworth speaking in Rotterdam, about her book and ideas on ‘dougnut economics’. The evening started well: at the entrance I overheard a conversation between two students: One saying: “what a lousy students we are,… Continue Reading
You cant evaluate material flows, by evaluating products, like a car of a building. As argue din the previous article. But in general this is what sustainable approaches suggest, and in special the ‘circular’ trend: if you recycle the product… Continue Reading