Ending subsidies for fossil fuel heating systems from 2025, and phasing out gas boilers and other fossil fuel heaters by 2040. These are just two of the outcomes of a political agreement between the EU Council and the European Parliament, which was reached on December 7, 2023. Which measures were agreed upon, and what will the implications be for the heating sector?
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Since the film of Al Gore An inconvenient truth, sustainability stands high on the national agenda of most countries. Concern for the environment is one of the main reasons in combination with opportunities to innovate. In general, innovation and entrepreneurship are important in the realm of national economies because they hold the key to the continuity and growth of companies (e.g. Hage, 1999; Cooper, 1987; Van de Ven, 2007) and economic growth within a country. It is therefore obvious that national governments are investing money to enable and improve innovation management and entrepreneurial behaviour within organizations with sustainability in mind. Policy measures are aimed at reduction of carbon dioxide emission, waste management and alternative use of energy sources and materials. In line with these measures companies are urged to integrate sustainability in their business processes and search for innovative sustainable solutions. While on a national level policy measures towards a more sustainable society are defined, enterprises - and especially small and medium sized companies - lag behind and fail in incorporating these measures appropriately in their day-to day business. As a result research for sustainability has become an important driver for innovation. Within the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CI&E) at The Hague University of Applied Sciences we have taken the initiative to develop an innovation and research program for the construction industry to help small and medium sized companies (SME's) integrate sustainability in their business processes, while simultaneously professionalizing students and lecturers. This paper is part of ongoing research among 40 companies in the region of South-Holland. The companies are mostly SME's varying from very small (6 employees) to middle-sized (more than 100). According to Rennings (2000) while innovation processes toward sustainable development have received increasing attention during the past years, theoretical and methodological approaches to analyse these processes are poorly developed. This paper describes a theoretical approach developed at our university's Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, which combines education and research. It is an inductive approach that departs from real-life problems encountered by companies, and is aimed at developing a model that supports companies in integrating sustainability in their business and innovation processes. We describe the experiences so far with a number of companies in the construction industry, which participate in the innovation and research program described above and the barriers they encounter. Our sustainable program is centred on four themes: cradle-to-cradle, social corporate responsibility, climateneutral construction and sustainability and customer orientation in the building process. It is an exploratory research in which students and undergraduates are involved under the supervision of a lecturer as senior researcher of this program. Through an in-depth analysis of the companies, participant observation and indepth interviews with the owners/directors of the companies, experts and prominent sustainable trendsetters, insight is gained in innovation processes towards sustainable development. Preliminary conclusions show that on a company level one of the main bottlenecks is the dilemma posed by the need for profit for the continuity of a company, while taking into account people and planet. The main bottleneck is however the inability of companies to translate policy measures into strategy and operations. This paper is set up as follows. In section 2 we give an account of European and Dutch policy measures geared at stimulating sustainability in a business context and especially the building and construction industry. In section 3 an overview is given of the economic importance and characteristics of the Dutch building and construction industry and the problems in this sector. These problems are offset against the opportunity of sustainability as a strategic option for SME's in this sector. In section 4 the innovation and research program developed at the CI&E is introduced in the context of the main research question. Following that in section 5, methodological choices are addressed and the research design is presented. We finalize this paper in section 6 with our conclusions and recommendations for further research.
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An enormous challenge has risen regarding our existing housing stock, as the result of ambitious agreements to reduce global carbon emissions. Until now the focus has been mostly on improving energy efficiency technically by ameliorating the energy performance of the building envelope. Insulation, controlled ventilation, new services and devices are deployed, saving and harvesting energy. New building components and production processes have been developed to smoothen obstacles in the role-out of large-scale implementation of these measures. Also effort has been put into non-technical solutions e.g. new financial arrangements, standards and business models. This has resulted in several successful pilots in the EU to retrofit dwellings towards net-zero energy levels. Still, large-scale implementation, especially targeted at owner-occupied dwellings is lagging behind. The hypothesis is that this is due to the fact that the challenge is still mainly addressed by following concepts that belong to the paradigm of the second industrial revolution. In this paradigm central coordination, proprietary development and vertical up-scaling are key and dwellers are neglected as an essential group of stakeholders in the transformation of their dwellings. This paper will reflect on the principles used in retrofitting using the successful Dutch programme of the Stroomversnelling as a case study. What are the consequences, especially for the position of dwellers, if we rethink the developments from concepts that belong to the paradigm of the third industrial revolution? In the reflection on necessary and possible future developments experiences and insights from Open Building will be used.
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Expectations are high for digital technologies to address sustainability related challenges. While research into such applications and the twin transformation is growing rapidly, insights in the actual daily practices of digital sustainability within organizations is lacking. This is problematic as the contributions of digital tools to sustainability goals gain shape in organizational practices. To bridge this gap, we develop a theoretical perspective on digital sustainability practices based on practice theory, with an emphasis on the concept of sociomateriality. We argue that connecting meanings related to sustainability with digital technologies is essential to establish beneficial practices. Next, we contend that the meaning of sustainability is contextspecific, which calls for a local meaning making process. Based on our theoretical exploration we develop an empirical research agenda.
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This article addresses European energy policy through conventional and transformative sustainability approaches. The reader is guided towards an understanding of different renewable energy options that are available on the policy making table and how the policy choices have been shaped. In arguing that so far, European energy policy has been guided by conventional sustainability framework that focuses on eco-efficiency and ‘energy mix’, this article proposes greater reliance on circular economy (CE) and Cradle to Cradle (C2C) frameworks. Exploring the current European reliance on biofuels as a source of renewable energy, this article will provide recommendations for transition to transformative energy choices. http://dx.doi.org/10.13135/2384-8677/2331 https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/
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Met onderzoekspartners Ruben Vrijhoef (HU), Erlijn Eweg (HU), Raymond Stijkel (BAM), Arnold Homan (Inbo), Bas Slager (Repurpose). Uit de Inleiding: "In september 2015 heeft Hogeschool Utrecht een project aanvraag ingediend bij NRPO SIA, genaamd Circulaire gebouw installaties, samen met de partners BAM, Inbo en Repurpose. De insteek van het onderzoek was dat de gebouwinstallaties van het onderwijsgebouw aan de Padualaan 99 en 101 onderzocht werden op de mogelijkheid voor circulair hergebruik, met de partner bij de grootschalige renovatie van deze twee HU gebouwen. Op 23 februari ontvingen we de toekenning van NRPO SIA. Het oorspronkelijke project was gepland om eind oktober, begin november 2015 te starten. Door de toekenning later dan wij verwacht hadden, moesten we echter opnieuw met de projectpartners in overleg. In het project was uitgegaan van een bepaald onderzoeksobject, een gebouw. Het in het projectvoorstel omschreven onderzoeksobject was inmiddels al gestript en gesloopt (januari 2016). Daardoor is er in onderling overleg, besloten tot de volgende inhoudelijke projectwijzigingen: 1) De keuze voor een ander onderzoeksobject. 2) Het uitgangspunt wordt omgebogen naar de toepassing van multifunctionele bouwdelen, waarin de installaties al verwerkt zijn. De in het oorspronkelijke projectplan genoemde resultaten blijven in hoofdlijnen ongewijzigd, maar de resultaten op detailniveau worden iets anders ingevuld en uitgewerkt. De aanloop van dit project laat direct één van de kritische succes factoren zien bij een circulaire economie in de praktijk. En dat is de afstemming van vraag en aanbod van bouwmaterialen en producten binnen de keten. Als we materialen uit sloop en renovatiepanden elders willen hergebruiken en de timing van sloop of bouw wordt vertraagd, hapert het proces. Bij dit KIEM-VANG project ging het precies andersom: de sloop/renovatie van het beoogde onderzoekspand was al gebeurd op het moment dat de aanvraag werd goedgekeurd."
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Limited data is available on the size of urban goods movement and its impact on numerous aspects with respect to livability such as emissions and spatial impact. The latter becomes more important in densifying cities. This makes it challenging to implement effective measures that aim to reduce the negative impact of urban good movement and to monitor their impact. Furthermore, urban goods movement is diverse and because of this a tailored approach is required to take effective measures. Minimizing the negative impact of a heavy truck in construction logistics requires a different approach than a parcel delivery van. Partly due to a lack of accurate data, this diversity is often not considered when taking measures. This study describes an approach how to use available data on urban traffic, and how to enrich these with other sources, which is used to gain insight into the decomposition (number of trips and kilometers per segment and vehicle type). The usefulness of having this insight is shown for different applications by two case studies: one to estimate the effect of a zero-emission zone in the city of Utrecht and another to estimate the logistics requirements in a car-free area development.
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Deze publicatie beschrijft ervaringen met innnovatie in trajecten in de zorg en de bouw. Daarbij wordt gebruik gemaakt van de theorie van Peter Senge die complexe veranderingen in systeemdenken beschrijft. Deze Duurzame SysteemInnovatie/aanpak (DSI-aanpak) wordt beschreven met theoretische aanknopingspunten: Transitiemanagement, Sustainability by Design en Eco-acupunctuur. het project is mogelijk gemaakt door subsidieregeling duurzaamheid van de Provincie Utrecht.
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We need mental and physical reference points. We need physical reference points such as signposts to show us which way to go, for example to the airport or the hospital, and we need reference points to show us where we are. Why? If you don’t know where you are, it’s quite a difficult job to find your way, thus landmarks and “lieux de memoire” play an important role in our lives.
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Technologie in het onderwijs wordt mondjesmaat toegepast (zie bijvoorbeeld Schildkamp, Wopereis, KatDe Jong, Peet & Hoetjes, 2020). Alle onderwijsinstellingen hebben tegenwoordig weliswaar een digitale leeromgeving, doch een optimaal gebruik ervan is nog niet gerealiseerd. In veel situaties wordt de digitale leeromgeving voornamelijk gebruikt voor administratieve functies en voor de beschikbaarstelling van leermiddelen. De Coronapandemie heeft voor een ongekende exponentiële groei in het gebruik van technologie gezorgd. Eenvoudigweg omdat de gebruikelijke manieren van lesgeven onmogelijk werden. In een mum van tijd schakelden docenten over naar Teams, Zoom of andere vergelijkbare technologie, werden colleges opgenomen of gestreamd, webinars ontwikkeld, kennisclips gemaakt en online gezet en werd de leeromgeving verder doorontwikkeld om communicatie synchroon en asynchroon te verbeteren. Dat is een prestatie van formaat waardoor het onderwijs in tijden van de pandemie online door kon blijven gaan. Zo ontstonden er door een mix van fysiek en online onderwijs allerlei vormen van blended learning. Blended Learning is een populair concept waar echter zeer uiteenlopende betekenissen achter schuil gaan (Oliver & Trigwell, 2005). Een allesomvattende definitie die op ieders instemming kan rekenen, is een utopie maar de omschrijving van SURF (2020) wordt frequent gehanteerd: Blended learning is een mengvorm van face-to-face en online (ICT-gebaseerde) onderwijsactiviteiten, leermaterialen en tools. Beide soorten leeractiviteiten maken een substantieel onderdeel uit van het onderwijs; idealiter versterken ze elkaar. Het doel is onderwijs te ontwikkelen dat gebruik maakt van ICT om effectief, efficiënt en flexibel leren mogelijk te maken, met een stijging van het leerrendement en de student- en docenttevredenheid tot gevolg. Vanwege het Coronavirus zien we dat onderwijsactiviteiten die voorheen op locatie in een onderwijssetting plaatsvonden, nu voornamelijk online plaatsvinden waarbij studenten en docenten inloggen in Teams, Zoom, Bluejeans of een vergelijkbare omgeving. De inhoud van het onderwijs of manier van lesgeven verandert echter niet of nauwelijks. Dit is illustratief voor wat we verstaan onder blended learning in de vorm van substitutie. Er is dan sprake van een vervanging: Het klaslokaal wordt ingeruild voor Teams. Ook al is straks de coronapandemie voorbij, dan gaan we er van uit dat het onderwijs meer blended zal blijven dan voorheen, omdat we nu op grote schaal de mogelijkheden ervaren van technologische toepassingen en die willen we behouden en verder uitbouwen. Er is momentum om na te denken over hoe te komen tot een meer optimale blend, en dus niet in de fase van substitutie te blijven verkeren, hetgeen vraagt om een herontwerp van het onderwijs. Met dit essay willen we hier de aandacht op vestigen.
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