Lower temperature heating integration in the residential building stock:: A review of decision-making parameters for lower-temperature-ready energy renovations

Lower temperature heating (LTH) involves using the lowest possible supply temperatures to meet residential heating demands, thus supporting the integration of sustainable heating sources and decarbonising the existing residential stock. However, choosing appropriate energy renovation options to prepare existing dwellings for LTH presents...

Lower-Temperature-Ready Renovation:: An Approach to Identify the Extent of Renovation Interventions for Lower-Temperature District Heating in Existing Dutch Homes

This study presents an approach to determine the extent of renovation interventions required for existing Dutch dwellings aiming to transition to lower-temperature district heating (DH) systems. The proposed method is applied to a typical intermediate terraced house built before 1945 in the Netherlands, and it consists of two steps: first,...

Unravelling Decision-Making Processes on Location Choices for High-Speed Railway Stations in China: A Comparison of Shenzhen, Lanzhou and Jingmen

Most High-Speed Railway (HSR) station areas in China can be found at the urban periphery or in suburban areas, a phenomenon that has often been criticised. While debate about the influence these location choices have on the economic and sustainable development of cities rages on, little attention has been paid to the decision-making processes...

A value-based definition of success in adaptive port planning: a case study of the Port of Isafjordur in Iceland

Multiple stakeholders with a wide range of objectives are engaged in a port system. Ports themselves are faced with many uncertainties in this volatile world. To meet stakeholder objectives and deal with uncertainties, adaptive port planning is increasingly being acknowledged. This method offers robust planning, and thereby, a sustainable and...

Dutch politicians’ use of cost–benefit analysis

28 Dutch politicians and 10 top-level civil servants were interviewed about the way Dutch politicians use cost–benefit analysis (CBA). Various types of use were identified. Politicians use CBA: (1) When forming their opinion about the desirability of transport projects; (2) As political ammunition (opportunistic use); (3) To make themselves...

Exploring Homeowners’ Insulation Activity

Insulating existing buildings offers great potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and meeting Germany’s climate protection targets. Previous research suggests that, since homeowners’ decision-making processes are inadequately understood as yet, today’s incentives aiming at increasing insulation activity lead to unsatisfactory results....

From networks to hybrids: Strategic behaviour and crisis-driven change in the regulation and governance of the European financial and economic system,

A key challenge that European decision-makers struggle with today is regulating and governing the European financial and economic system in a way that is both effective and legitimate. To help address this challenge, this paper asks why regulatory gaps occurred and European governance has been weak, and how these gaps and weaknesses allowed...

Applying Energy Performance-Based Design in Early Design Stages

In current architectural practice some important changes are taking place because of the development of numerous Building Performance Simulations (BPS) tools to support design decisions during early phases of the design process. Many difficulties still persist, however, not necessarily due to the limitations of the available technology, but to...

Best Practices for Urban Densification: A decision-making support process using microclimate analysis methods and parametric models for optimizing urban climate comfort

This paper presents an approach for microclimate aware densification of urban areas by creating best practices for an in situ application for block-size urban developments. The discussed procedure generates and evaluates urban block types according to microclimate criteria by integrating climate and comfort parameters in the design process of...

Designing socio-technical systems: Structures and processes

The Systems Engineering, Policy Analysis and Management (SEPAM) MSc curriculum taught at Delft University of Technology focuses on the design of socio-technical systems (STS). We teach our students to structure design activities by considering what we call the TIP aspects: Technical systems, Institutions, and decision-making Processes. Students...

Present & Future: Visualising ideas of water infrastructure design

In redevelopment and redesign of small water structures local water governing institutions are increasingly required to and requesting that the planning processes are set up in a participatory manner. Participatory decision making processes are set up to bring stakeholders with different backgrounds, ideas, experiences and expertise together....