Principles for nearly zero energy buildings

source: Ecofys

The recast of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) in 2010 introduced nearly zero energy buildings (nzeb) as a future requirement for all new buildings in the EU from 2021 on (public buildings from 2019). In this frame ECOFYS and the Danish Research Building Institute made a study on the principles for nearly zero energy buildings.
Report and summary can be found on the website of Ecofys or on the website of BPIE (Building Performance Institute Europe).

Building with bamboo

Simon Velez, Colombian architect, Marcelo Villegas, engineer, Oscar Hidalgo, architect, they all discovered the opportunities of bamboo as a building material.
As Simon Velez says in the video below: 'We should combine mineral materials, such as concrete, with vegetal materials, such as bamboo. We are too much carnivorous architects and should be more vegetarian architects."

Simon Velez and Marcelo Villegas also concentrate on other materials such as straw bales, poured earth and on simplified structures.

Other examples of bamboo construction can be found at Chiangmai Life Construction.

The Blue Economy

The Blue Economy is going a step further than the Green Economy. 
According to Gunther Pauli, founder of Ecover and author of 'The Blue Economy', the Green Economy leads to green solutions that are more expensive than the traditional ones, thus only feasible for the happy few (the rich ones).
The Blue Economy aims at looking for solutions that are both sustainable and affordable.
The Zero Energy Research Institute (ZERI) has been set up as a world wide network of researchers and entrepreneurs searching for this kind of solutions. Already 99 cases have been collected and every week a new case is presented.

 

Energy Cities' 30 proposals for the energy transition of cities and towns

In the framework of the Energy Cities' Annual Rendezvous 2012, 30 mayors from 30 European countries made 30 proposals for the energy transition of their cities and towns. With these proposals they want to showcase a collection of groundbreaking practices to the Rio +20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development.
Their video message to Rio +20 can be found here.

C2C Islands

  

The Cradle to Cradle Islands project was an Interreg IVB North Sea Region Project with 22 partners from six countries around the North Sea.
Main goal was to develop innovative solutions in the field of energy, water and materials using C2C principles as a guide.
The project just came to its end. All presentations and conclusions can be found on the project website.

Smart cities inspiration blog

Thuis in de stad (= Home in the city): an interesting and inspirational blog with very distinctive items on urban sustainability (urban farming, sustainable mobility, childfriendly cities and so much more).
Both in Dutch and English 

Maatstaf Duurzaam Wonen en Bouwen

De nieuwe Vlaamse Maatstaf Duurzaam Wonen en Bouwen: duurzame woningbouw staat online. De maatstaf wil bouwteams een handleiding geven om duurzaamheid te integreren in het hele bouwproces. Het kan zowel voor nieuwbouw als voor renovatie worden toegepast, voor individuele woningen, groepswoningen en appartementen.
De maatstaf moet nog aan de Vlaamse Regering worden voorgelegd ter goedkeuring, maar staat nu toch al online ter beschikking.
Het behandelt 9 thema's: (1)management, (2) transport, (3) water, (4) landgebruik en ecologie, (5) vervuiling, (6) materiaal en afval, (7) energie, (8) gezondheid, comfort en sociale waarde en (9) innovatie.