Climate Agreement
BLOC is the initiator of an ‘agreement’ or ‘plan of attack’ between the construction industry and governments in Zuid-Holland. To ensure that all new homes in Zuid-Holland are constructed as climate-adaptively as possible.
Read moreEnsuring a safe and pleasant Delta
The climate is changing. Weather extremes are on the rise. Extreme precipitation is on the increase. As are long periods of drought. ‘Heat stress’ has long ceased to be an exception. And as sea levels are rising, in some parts of Zuid-Holland the soil has been sinking.Climate change
Zuid-Holland is a highly populated area. With a lot of residents and a number of highly urbanised regions. A hot day is even hotter in a city than it is in a rural area. Extreme precipitation is also a much bigger problem for a city: because everything is ‘petrified’, the water doesn’t drain very well. We all know what a flooded street looks like, flooded bridges or residents of homes damaged by water. In short, the consequences of climate change are becoming increasingly apparent. This means that we need to organise society in such a way that enables us to handle these changes properly. Our homes and streets must be built in such a way that temperature isn’t elevated even further, and water can drain properly when needed. Climate-adaptive construction for short.
And this province is facing a particularly large number of new home construction projects: 170,000 new homes in the next 10 years. So this is the perfect time to set agreements about how to construct those homes to allow us to deal with the consequences of climate change. BLOC is the initiator of an ‘Agreement’ or ‘Plan of attack’ between governments and construction players in Zuid-Holland which will describe these agreements.
Heat stress, sinking soil, extreme precipitation, rising sea levels, extended periods of drought: these are the main consequences of climate change. These consequences are especially noticeable in the cities. That is why all municipalities, including those in Zuid-Holland, are currently stress-testing their cities. These stress tests provide insights into the main challenges all the way up to the level of the individual neighbourhood: can the water drain properly? Isn’t the temperature increasing too much? Are any other factors at play? This information offers important starting points enabling us to implement proper measures.
BLOC collaborates with the Zuid-Holland provincial government, the municipalities that are part of the urbanisation alliance, the Zuid-Holland Water Authorities and as many players from the construction industry as possible in order to achieve this. On 4 October, during the ‘Urbanisation congress’, the Climate-adaptive Construction Covenant was signed and the agreements ratified.
The new design principles for climate-adaptive construction set out basic principles that will lead to less flooding and heat stress, less extended drought and soil collapse and more biodiversity. The coalition stipulates these principles in a ‘programme of requirements’ for climate-adaptive construction that will be observed as of early 2019, plus a white paper with technical and economic opportunities. In addition, the Zuid-Holland partners intend to deliver a method within a year and a half that will serve to determine whether a construction project meets the standard for climate-adaptive construction.
Partaking in the construction chain? Or working for a government or housing corporation? And want to stay posted on these developments or get involved yourself? Please contact Sander van der Wal.
