Zoekresultaten

Costs and benefits of green roof types for cities and building owners

Increasing urbanization and the effects of climate change will bring new challenges for cities, such as energy saving and supply of renewable energy, preventing urban heat islands and water retention to deal with more frequent downpours. A major urban surface, the surface of roofs, is nowadays hardly exploited and could be used to make cities more ‘future proof’ or resilient. Many Dutch municipalities have become aware that the use of green roofs as opposed to bituminous roofs positively contributes to these challenges and are stimulating building-owners to retrofit their building with green roofs. This study aims at comparing costs and benefits of roof types, focused on green roofs (intensive and extensive) both on building- and city scale. Core question is the balance between costs and benefits for both scales, given varying local conditions. Which policy measures might be needed in the future in order to apply green roofs strategically in regard to local demands? To answer this question the balance of costs and benefits of green roofs is divided into a public and an individual part. Both balances use a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats framework to determine the chance of success for the application of green roofs, considering that the balance for green roofs on an individual scale influences the balance on a public scale. The outcome of this combined analyses in the conclusion verifies that a responsible policy and a local approach towards green roofs is necessary to prepare the city sufficiently for future climate changes. http://dx.doi.org/10.13044/j.sdewes.d6.0225

Unraveling the 'adapation 'policy puzzle'

Mapping, assessing and evaluating the effectiveness of urban nature-based solutions to climate change effects in The Netherlands

As the field of climate adaptation has entered an implementation and acceleration phase, measures for urban water and heat management are rapidly spreading in cities across the globe. Especially nature-based solutions have seen a recent rise in implementation to fight flooding, heat, drought, and biodiversity loss. Despite decades of experience, there is still a lot unknown about the long-term functioning of these measures and how this relates to design, development, and maintenance decisions. To this end, this chapter explores the relations between characteristics and performances of urban nature-based solutions, based on empirical research conducted in over 50 swales throughout the Netherlands between 2021 and 2022. The research combined various fieldwork methods such as full-scale infiltration tests to assess the hydraulic functionality and heavy metal accumulation tests by using an XRF-scanner, as well as neighborhood surveys to assess local perceptions of these swales and their functions. This chapter describes and illustrates these approaches for mapping and assessing the performance of swales, followed by a reflection on their suitability for linking design choices and performance indicators. Based on national guidelines, these indicators help to establish minimal performance quotas to evaluate and compare the performance of swales. While most of the researched swales met national criteria for hydraulic performance, almost a third of investigated swales exceeded norms for heavy metal accumulation. By building up a national database of swales and data derived through measurements, we attempt to find patterns among successes and failures in swale design through cross-case comparison, but conclude that these heavily rely on local circumstances and context-depending design choices. Expanding on mapping, assessment, and evaluation approaches can lead to a better understanding of these context-depending chances and risks for developing nature-based solutions.

Sanitary systems

Global society is confronted with various challenges: climate change should be mitigated, and society should adapt to the impacts of climate change, resources will become scarcer and hence resources should be used more efficiently and recovered after use, the growing world population and its growing wealth create unprecedented emissions of pollutants, threatening public health, wildlife and biodiversity. This paper provides an overview of the challenges and risks for sewage systems, next to some opportunities and chances that these developments pose. Some of the challenges are emerging from climate change and resource scarcity, others come from the challenges emerging from stricter regulation of emissions. It also presents risks and threats from within the system, next to external influences which may affect the surroundings of the sewage systems. It finally reflects on barriers to respond to these challenges. http://dx.doi.org/10.13044/j.sdewes.d6.0231 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sabineeijlander/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/karel-mulder-163aa96/

The Environment in the Lead:

Currently, there is no method available that can systematically score the available ecosystem services in streets or street segments in suburban districts. In this study, different climate adaptation measures and their ecosystem services were categorized into green, blue, and grey categories and weight was given to each category based on their impact on the microclimate. This study took place in the Hillesluis district in the city of Rotterdam and the Paddepoel district in the city of Groningen. In Rotterdam, 21 streets, composed of 42 street segments, were assessed. In Groningen, 17 streets, composed of 45 street segments, were assessed. The available ecosystem services of each street segment were scored from 0–100. The scorecard method that was developed and tested during this study provided insight in the variation of available ecosystem services of streets and street segments. Individual street scores were very low in the city of Rotterdam and ranged between 3 and 50, with the average score for the street segments of 29. In Groningen, the scores were considerably higher with a range between 23 and 70, with an average score of 47 per street segment. The presence of larger green trees, front yards, and façade gardens in the green category are the most distinctive variable, while adaptation measures in the blue category were absent in both cities. The scorecard proved to be very useful in the adaptation labeling of street segments and entire streets. After assessing a neighborhood, the least adaptive streets can be identified relatively easy. Based on the score a label can be given between A+++ and G. The scorecard informs residents and decision makers about which streets are most adaptive and which streets have an adaptation potential. The method can easily be duplicated and used by local governments and community groups to have better insight in the level of climate adaptation of their street. Labels for entire streets can be used to create awareness and encourage residents to take action and expand the number of climate adaptation measures in their street.

Four European typologies of older adults concerning environmental sustainability

Transforming our societies towards a more sustainable future requires a good understanding of their citizens. This is of particular importance when considering the phenomenon of population ageing, which means that older people will constitute a significant share of society. The imperative for sustainable development arises from escalating concerns over environmental issues, necessitating tailored interventions for the heterogeneous group of older individuals. In this research, data collected using the SustainABLE-8 in Poland, North Macedonia, Romania, the Netherlands and Israel (N = 2318) were analysed in order to identify European typologies and their drivers for - and contributions to - sustainable practices. Several items of the SustainABLE-8 concerned (limiting) energy use at home as well as attitudes towards the use of sustainable energy and climate change. The study identified the existence of four major typologies, which differ in terms of their financial position, beliefs and behaviours in relation to the environment. These typologies cover 1) inactive people with limited financial resources, 2) inactive believers, 3) active and belief-driven people with limited financial resources, and 4) active and belief-driven people with financial resources. Each typology is separately discussed in terms of its specificities and ways how local governments could support their pro-environmental behaviours. The research is summarised with practical implications for industry, policymakers and environmental, social and governance strategies.