Oude Delft 73

oudedelft
Topic:
Sustainable restoration of a monument
Activities IIUE:
  • Coordination
  • Advisor sustainability

Rationale: 

The White Rose mansion is a prototype of typical Dutch traditional house. According to the construction of this ‘mother model’ nearly all homes in the Netherlands were constructed until the middle of the 20th century. This makes it possible to use this example model as a learning device for the sustainable renovation of the existing housing stock as a whole.

Summary: 

This project will demonstrate how to save a considerable level of energy and other resources, without damaging the building. On the contrary, it shows that even more beautiful solutions are possible (for instance: floor heating eliminates conventional radiators).
Close cooperation with the project partners, in particular the National Trust, given their high profile and broad interest in heritage conservation, will complement and intensify the development of a convincing transnational portfolio of good practice examples.

Innovative aspects
Heritage as ambassador for sustainability: People easily identify themselves with historic environments. The sustainability investment in this iconic building will convince residents that what can be done in a listed building (with all types of restrictions because of its monumental value) is certainly also possible in a simple house.

Implementation of Renoflex concept: In compact urban settings the size of open spaces limits the number of soil collectors for heat pumps; extra heating and cooling capacity is created with thermal solar energy and heat recovery from ventilation air. This in an integrated, manageable system. A new type of combined insulation and wall heating prevents wooden constructions to dry out and burst. Because it is not thick, although requiring more space than ancient wall tapestry, it fits in surrounding profiles of decorative carpentry. Renoflex demonstrates that an optimum and flexible resource saving system can be applied in the renovation sector; ; lessons learned will be used in training of practitioners.

Monitoring and indoor climate management:  Sensors deliver information on the performance of the resource components, individually and as integrated system; and it is instrumental for comfortable, personalised indoor climate management. The monitoring facilitates information exchange with households (through the Internet) on energy and water production and use; this will motivate and activate the saving of resources in the region.

New type of contracting and organisation: The use of sustainability criteria, and the Renoflex concept is new in the restoration sector. Firms are selected on the basis of willingness to learn and share experience and know how. Renoflex requires interactive planning, organisation and teamwork. Umbrella sector organisations will be actively engaged to stimulate the innovation capacity of the renovation sector as a whole.