Sustainability, Energy and Architecture

Chapter 1

Dutch Efforts Towards a Sustainable Built Environment

Wim Zeiler,    TU Eindhoven, Faculty of the Built Environment, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

Abstract

Sustainable building has a respectable history in The Netherlands, especially since the early 1970s. The report ‘The limits to growth’ from the Club of Rome in 1972, and the 1973 energy crises shortly afterwards showed the downside of the long period of growing prosperity experienced since the early 1950s. In governmental energy policy introduced from 1973 to 1990, energy efficiency and diversification became the key subjects of development. This chapter presents a historical overview of Dutch efforts right up to some current NZEB schools and office buildings built just in the last year, ...