A new Dutch building control system: Lessons to be learned from neighbours?

Traditionally quality control of construction work in Europe was a governmental responsibility. In most European countries local authority building control were responsible for the issuing of planning or building permits and carried out plan approval, site-inspections and checks on completion of constructions. During the last decades however...

Energy regulations for houses in the Netherlands: Theory and practice

Study on Governance of Urban Renewal in the UK, Hong Kong and China: the Way to Sustainability

China’s fast growth of economy and urbanization has created a world record on its own since its reform and opening-up policy in late 1970s. This drives mass demolition and reconstruction and leaves a short lifespan of existing buildings through unsustainable urban renewal. Many developed countries/regions, such as the UK and Hong Kong, have long...

New Development of China’s National Evaluation Standard for Green Building (ESGB-2014)

In 2006, China published the first National Evaluation Standard for Green Building (ESGB), which soon became the most widely spread evaluation system in the country. With the fast growth of urbanization, ESGB 2006 version no longer meets the current needs and requires an update. Based on the implementation outcomes of ESGB 2006 and expert...

Reducing the Performance Gap by Analysing Specific Combiantions of Occupant and Building Characteristics

The energy saving policies of governments are not resulting in the energy saving they were aiming for[1]. Theoretical energy saving predictions are an important and frequently used tool for policy makers to develop energy saving policies and to set energy saving targets. Majcen et al. [2] showed a discrepancy between actual and theoretical...

The Progress of Energy Renovations of Housing in the Netherlands

The European Union formulated high ambitions of energy reductions to be realised in the built environment. The existing housing stock covers a major share of energy use and is seen as high potential to contribute to the savings. This should be realised in the first place by reducing the energy demand for heating by renovation of the existing...

Effectiveness of energy renovations: a reassessment based on actual consumption savings

Energy renovations offer unique opportunities to increase the energy efficiency of the built environment and for the existing housing stock, they are the most important solution. Usually, energy savings are based on modelling calculations. However, recent research has shown that the predicted energy consumption differs largely from the actual...

Improving the Supply Chain of Housing Industrialization from Transaction Costs Perspective: A Literature Review

Sustainable development has been the focus of all major industries in the world, especially in the construction industry. As one of the sustainable construction modes, housing industrialization (HI) is now absorbing a growing number of attentions that lead the industry to go green. However, the implementation of HI in China is far from...

Critical Success Factors for Effective Resident Participation in Community Retrofit: A Systematic Review

Community residents possess first-hand knowledge of the community and effective execution of retrofit methods. Their understanding, acceptance and ultimately participation determine the smoothness of working process and the success of the project. Although the introduction of regulations and policies has increased resident participation in...

Exploring Multiple Perspectives in Citizenship Education with a Serious Game

Within citizenship education, a new focus is being laid upon what is expected of citizens within a diverse and lightning-fast society: more emphasis is placed on teaching students how to understand and respect other people’s opinions, regardless of how they may contrast with one’s own. However, learning to be tolerant with others’ viewpoints...

From collective to individual decision-making: barriers and opportunities to improve the success rate of the energy retrofits in the Dutch owner-occupied sector

The building sector can contribute considerably to reducing global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In the Netherlands, the GHG emissions must be mitigated by 95% by 2050 relative to the 1990 baseline. Various factors, such as low renovation rates cause uncertainties in reaching these targets. The current study aims for investigating the barriers...

Requirements for renovating residential buildings in the Netherlands towards lower temperature supply from district heating.

In the Netherlands, district heating with a lower temperature supply (<70°C) will play a crucial part in accomplishing the energy transition goals of delivering natural gas-free sustainable heating to dwellings. The existing dwellings often require energy renovations to make them suitable for lower temperature heating. However, choosing...

Typologies of Business Models of Integrated Home Renovation Services: Accelerating Energy Efficient Renovations for Homeowners Associations in The Low Countries and France

The need for energy efficient buildings has become increasingly important in the context of climate change mitigation. Across the European Union (EU), 41,2% of the population resides in multiple ownership apartment buildings with figures rising in some countries as high as 65%. A majority of these buildings are in need of energy renovation....

Exploring pro-environmental behaviour spilling effects in Dutch homeowner energy efficient renovations

Energy efficient renovation (EER) of the owner-occupied building stock is identified as a key effort to pursue in order to mitigate climate change. However, current renovation rates continuously fall behind and a need to foster EER uptake is apparent. As homeowners' behaviour and decision-making are crucial in the context of EER, behavioural...

A Review of Climate and Resident-Oriented Renovation Processes: A Framework for Just Decision Support Systems

The renovation of existing buildings is widely recognized as a powerful strategy for reducing emissions and land use. However, when it comes to residential buildings, the socio-technical challenges are particularly complex. The necessity and urgency of increasing energy efficiency often lead to retrofit processes that overlook residents’ needs...