|
EVA Lanxmeer
Lanxmeer is the name of an ecological neighbourhood (240 houses) built from 1994 to 2009 in the town of Culemborg in the Netherlands. It is an environmentally friendly housing development. It was initiated by Marleen Kaptein, who was looking for a more sustainable way of building housing in urban areas. The project was a strong partnership between future inhabitants and the city of Culemborg, consultants and other people. It incorporates many of the principles of high environmental quality and eco-towns, but its principal originality is the promotion of the constant participation of the inhabitants. Indeed, this neighbourhood (except for its ''masterplan'') was designed and conducted with representatives of future residents in a creative process (''bottom-up''; from bottom to top and not imposed by management or administration), and is often regarded as a model in several areas (for example in Europe by Energie-Cités and in France by the Department of Ecology, Energy, Sustain ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Real Estate Developers
Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to others. Real estate developers are the people and companies who coordinate all of these activities, converting ideas from paper to real property. Real estate development is different from construction or housebuilding, although many developers also manage the construction process or engage in housebuilding. Developers buy land, finance real estate deals, build or have builders build projects, develop projects in joint venture, create, imagine, control, and orchestrate the process of development from the beginning to end.New York Times, March 16, 1963, "Personality Boom is Loud for Louis Lesser" Developers usually take the greatest risk in the creation or renovation of real estate and receive the greatest rewards. Typically, developers purchase a t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ecovillages
An ecovillage is a traditional or intentional community with the goal of becoming more socially, culturally, economically, and/or ecologically sustainable. An ecovillage strives to produce the least possible negative impact on the natural environment through intentional physical design and resident behavior choices. It is consciously designed through locally owned, participatory processes to regenerate and restore its social and natural environments. Most range from a population of 50 to 250 individuals, although some are smaller, and traditional ecovillages are often much larger. Larger ecovillages often exist as networks of smaller sub-communities. Some ecovillages have grown through like-minded individuals, families, or other small groups—who are not members, at least at the outset—settling on the ecovillage's periphery and participating ''de facto'' in the community. Ecovillagers are united by shared ecological, social-economic and cultural-spiritual values.Van Schynd ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Passive Solar Building Design
In passive solar building design, windows, walls, and floors are made to collect, store, reflect, and distribute solar energy, in the form of heat in the winter and reject solar heat in the summer. This is called passive solar design because, unlike active solar heating systems, it does not involve the use of mechanical and electrical devices. The key to designing a passive solar building is to best take advantage of the local climate performing an accurate site analysis. Elements to be considered include window placement and size, and glazing type, thermal insulation, thermal mass, and shading. Passive solar design techniques can be applied most easily to new buildings, but existing buildings can be adapted or "retrofitted". Passive energy gain ''Passive solar'' technologies use sunlight without active mechanical systems (as contrasted to ''active solar'', which uses thermal collectors). Such technologies convert sunlight into usable heat (in water, air, and thermal mass), cau ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Energy Efficiency In British Housing
Domestic housing in the United Kingdom presents a possible opportunity for achieving the 20% overall cut in UK greenhouse gas emissions targeted by the Government for 2010. However, the process of achieving that drop is proving problematic given the very wide range of age and condition of the UK housing stock. Carbon emissions Although carbon emissions from housing have remained fairly stable since 1990 (due to the increase in household energy use having been compensated for by the 'dash for gas'), housing accounted for around 30% of all the UK's carbon dioxide emissions in 2004 (40 million tonnes of carbon) up from 26.42% in 1990 as a proportion of the UK's total emissions. The Select Committee on Environmental Audit noted that emissions from housing could constitute over 55% of the UK's target for carbon emissions in 2050. A 2006 report commissioned by British Gas estimated the average carbon emissions for housing in each of the local authorities in Great Britain, the first time ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sustainability
Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable living). Sustainability is commonly described as having three dimensions (also called pillars): environmental, economic, and social. Many publications state that the environmental dimension (also called "planetary integrity" or "ecological integrity") is the most important, and, in everyday usage, "sustainability" is often focused on countering major environmental problems, such as climate change, loss of biodiversity, loss of ecosystem services, land degradation, and air and water pollution. Humanity is now exceeding several "planetary boundaries". A closely related concept is that of sustainable development, and the terms are often used synonymously. However, UNESCO distinguishes the two thus: "''Sustainability'' is often thought of as a lon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Futurist
Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty or interest is futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities about the future and how they can emerge from the present, whether that of human society in particular or of life on Earth in general. Definition Past futurists and the emergence of the term The term "futurist" most commonly refers to people who attempt to understand the future (sometimes called trend analysis) such as authors, consultants, thinkers, organizational leaders and others who engage in interdisciplinary and systems thinking to advise private and public organizations on such matters as diverse global trends, possible scenarios, emerging market opportunities and risk management. Futurist is not in the sense of the art movement futurism. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' identifies the earliest use of the term ''futurism'' i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Urban Planner
An urban planner (also known as town planner) is a professional who practices in the field of town planning, urban planning or city planning. An urban planner may focus on a specific area of practice and have a title such as city planner, town planner, regional planner, long-range planner, transportation planner, infrastructure planner, environmental planner, parks planner, physical planner, health planner, planning analyst, urban designer, community development director, economic development specialist or other similar combinations. Royal Town Planning Institute is the oldest professional body of town and urban planners founded in 1914 and the University of Liverpool established the first dedicated planning school in the world in 1909. Responsibilities The responsibilities of an urban planner vary between jurisdictions, and sometimes within jurisdictions. The following is therefore a general description of the responsibilities of an urban planner, of which an urban planner ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Culemborg
Culemborg () is a municipality and a city in the centre of the Netherlands. The city had a population of 29,386 on 1 January 2022 and is situated just south of the Lek river. Direct train lines run from the railway station towards the cities of Utrecht and Den Bosch. History Culemborg, formerly also spelled Kuilenburg or Kuylenburgh, received city rights in 1318. For a long time, Culemborg was independent from any counties or duchies in the Netherlands. The city had gained the right of toll collection and the right of asylum: it was a so-called '''Vrijstad''' ( free city). In practice, this meant that people who had fled to Culemborg from other cities (for example due to bankruptcy) could evade their creditors in Culemborg. The creditors would not be allowed entry into the city. This did not mean that criminals could escape justice in Culemborg: the city had its own justice system which could sentence criminals. In Amsterdam, the phrase '''Naar Culemborg gaan (Going to Culembor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that have human occupancy or use as their principal purpose. Etymologically, the term architect derives from the Latin ''architectus'', which derives from the Greek (''arkhi-'', chief + ''tekton'', builder), i.e., chief builder. The professional requirements for architects vary from place to place. An architect's decisions affect public safety, and thus the architect must undergo specialized training consisting of advanced education and a ''practicum'' (or internship) for practical experience to earn a Occupational licensing, license to practice architecture. Practical, technical, and academic requirements for becoming an architect vary by jurisdiction, though the formal study of architecture in academic institutions has played a pivotal role in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Energie-Cités
Energy Cities is the European Association of local authorities in energy transition. It represents 1000 towns and cities in 30 countries. From 2017 to 2020, Energy Cities is under the Presidency of the City of Heidelberg (DE). Energy Cities was established as an association of European local authorities in 1990 to put all this into practice. The association premises are located in Brussels (BE) and Besançon (FR). A part of the team works in Budapest (HU), Offenburg (DE), Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau (DE) and Zürich (CH). Board of directors The Board of Directors of the association is represented by the 11 European cities:Energy Cities Board of Directors. http://energy-cities.eu/-Board-of-Directors,455- Presidency of Energy Cities * 2005-2020 City of Heidelberg (DE), represented by Eckart Würzner, Deputy Mayor of Heidelberg * 2000-2005 City of Odense (DK), represented by Søren Møller, Deputy Mayor of Odense * 1997-2000 City of Barcelona (ES), represented by Pep Puig, M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
