The Climate Proof City 2050 and the Climate Game show how our cities and buildings can be prepared for the changing climate. In the Climate-Proof City 2050 study, a catalog of climate-proof building products for building and public space has been developed. Together with residents and professionals of a number of cities, these building products were applied and visualized at four locations. Subsequently, the Climate Game was developed together with the Museon, with which families and children can make their own home climate-proof online.
The task Our Climate is changing. It is getting warmer, wetter and sometimes drier in the Netherlands. The KNMI outlines four scenarios, from moderate to extreme, exactly how many degrees it will warm up and how many millimeters it will rain in 2050. The Delta Program for new construction and restructuring proposes 33 measures to make our buildings climate-proof. Tools to prepare our existing buildings for an excess (or shortage) of water and heat.
But what do these measures actually look like? How can they be applied in the built environment? How do they fit in with historical or modern architecture and urban planning? And what are the possibilities for a producing city?
"The starting point for the climate-proof city is that the interventions can yield more for the built environment than arming against climate change itself."
Characteristics according to construction period of the existing city It is expected that our cities will no longer grow as strongly on the way to 2050 as they have done over the past 150 years. The greatest challenge therefore lies in the existing city. But the climate-proof task differs per construction period. Eight typical cities, from historic to modern or a combination, can serve as examples for other cities in the Netherlands.
The increasing amount of precipitation and the warming climate will become normative for the climate-proof city. For example, the roof shape, sloping or flat, and the rainwater drainage system play an important role for precipitation. In the warming climate, the degree of facade openings and the building-physical property of the facade, insulated or uninsulated, among other things, are normative. Based on the study of Climate Proof Cities, the degree of effect of sun reflection and sun protection, ventilation and green roofs on the indoor climate per construction period has been made clear.
Precipitation and heat cycles; what are the opportunities? The starting point for the climate-proof city is that the interventions can yield more for the built environment than arming against climate change itself. Can excess water be stored for times of drought? Can the warming be used for energy generation?
Global cycles at building level have been set up for this purpose for precipitation and heat. In the precipitation cycle, for example, water can be temporarily buffered and stored so that it can be reused immediately or after possible filtering.
In the heat cycle, sunlight can be reflected or excluded for a cool and comfortable indoor climate. But heat and indirect sunlight can also be absorbed and stored in the building mass or deeper soil for colder times. Direct sunlight can be absorbed via PV cells and converted into electricity for home cooling or other use. Finally, sunlight can also be absorbed by green roofs and facades and provide renewable energy in the form of biomass or for food production.
Climate-proof architecture; the Products catalog Finally, all interventions at building level from the Delta Program are contained in a building products catalogue. The building products are classified according to their application possibilities in the precipitation and heat cycles at building level: water collection, buffering, storage and direct or filtered reuse. Sun protection, heat reflection, heat absorption and insulation, cooling and ventilation. The total offers a wide range of building products that can make buildings of different construction periods not only climate-proof but also productive.
Client: Ministerie van I&M, Deltaprogramma Nieuwbouw en herstructurering en het Museon Den Haag
Project: Ontwikkeling en verbeelding klimaatbestendige stad
Location: Landelijk met verbeelding van Arnhem, Eindhoven, Kampen en Rotterdam
Program: Bestaande stad historisch tot en met Vinex
Research & design: met BVR adviseurs
Ecology: Wageningen UR, Vincent Kuypers
Climate: Climate Proof Cities & TU Delft
Communication: Brand!
Production: Wieland Studio en Studio Kromhout
Planning: onderzoek & ontwerp 2012-2013