Many colleagues in the field feel frustrated when trying to improve the materials performance of buildings: the lobbying and framing of materials is huge, blurring a real discussion on what materials with best performance and lowest impact should be applied.… Continue Reading
Currently we are deeply concerned with the energy transition. However, our main problem is not energy, but material. There is enough energy without us having to exhaust it or without having nasty side effects such as global warming. Think of… Continue Reading
Last month the OECD published its report with the latest figures on material consumption worldwide. [1] Currently that is 79 GigaTon of materials per year, and we are going to 167 Gt (!) in 2060. Every year. This includes a… Continue Reading
Its a difficult thing, the much wanted energy transition. Last week the daily news broadcast showed an interesting example of that. The provinces have to build wind turbines and search for acceptable locations, but the residents around are revolting. Complaining… 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
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
Before going into agriculture, and the available figures for it, I will briefly summarize how evaluate keeping resource loops closed. Fot this a calculation method has been developed, called MAXergy, with Embodied Land as a measuring unit. To close resource… 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
In the context of end-of-year fireworks, lets discuss nuclear energy. Because its back on the agenda. Its indeed an option, but then, the discussion should use the right arguments. Up to now, the discussion is about the advantages or disadvantages… Continue Reading