Building a pleasant, future-proof living environment
How can we configure the built environment in such a way that it is not only energy-neutral and climate adaptive but also contributes to the health and well-being of residents? Building a pleasant, future-proof living environment – that is the wide-ranging challenge the Sustainable Built Environment research group was set up to address.
The Netherlands is facing major societal challenges in terms of the built environment. For instance, the Dutch national government has committed to speeding up housebuilding, but the issue of nitrogen pollution and a lack of land for building represent major obstacles. Stricter nature and environmental requirements and the ambition of fully circular building by 2050 also create substantial technical and process challenges. The demand for homes is also changing due to the changing make-up of the population and the diverse housing needs of all kinds of new, sometimes vulnerable target groups. And then there is the need to make the existing housing stock more sustainable without further eroding biodiversity. These are interests which are sometimes diametrically opposed to one another.
