Climate change gets all the attention, but at least as problematic is Biodiversity loss, if not even more dramatic. After all, we ourselves are one of those endangered species…. That there is less attention, Miles Richardson thought, also lies in profiling, and a visualization of the problem that could catch…
Recycled materials, once created their impact on the environment, in many forms, and if that (negative) impact is not repaired or compensated, those materials still carry an impact in a second life. In other words , they cannot be considered impact free resources at the time of recycling, at any…
In many countries there is discussion at the moment about measuring the environmental impact of building ( and living ). [1] On the one hand of course the (operational) energy consumption, and how to deal with limited CO2 emission budgets. But on the other hand even more on the environmental…
There is a lot of discussion in the Netherlands about how to assess buildings, if you integrate material impacts in addition to energy, as well as to somehow include CO2 budgets. There is already an instrument for this, the MPG, (materials performance Buildings) but it is under discussion. Besides, in…
I was forwarded an interesting column, written by a researcher from Ourworldindata, with a comparison in quantity between fossil fuels, and materials extraction. And then the thesis is more or less that the extraction of raw materials to build a renewable energy supply costs many times less raw materials as…
Of course, it makes some sense, improving our house with some insulation, a heat pump and so on (or not, I’ll come back to that soon!) , but if you could choose where to live or build, or move, where would you go, given that you want to be prepared…
A new regulation is in the making in Europe: No net land take. PBL ( NL environmental assessment agency) recently organized a meeting on the topic.[1] It’s an interesting approach and wording, but what’s really the point? First, there is the assumption that no more land should be sacrificed to…
As a municipality, do not strive for growth that will increase your problems. Such was my central thesis of an opinion article in a regional newsppaper last week. But of course it applies more generally, which is why I repeat it here though in an adapted manner. We live in…
I was asked that question last year by Thomas van Belzen of Cobouw,[1] and it got me thinking. It was an interview in Dutch, but let me return to it in English and in more detail at the beginning of 2023. The first reaction is of course: why build, we…
Well, since we’re grumbling anyway, like last time, let’s do this one too, to end the year. We are constantly led astray, by the way messages are send out, by companies, organizations, and the press. Its about the way a certain subject is portrayed. Not only with regard to direct…