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The installation of solar panels is one of the many ways to make the built environment more sustainable. However, the investment required to purchase and install the panels can prevent homeowners, businesses and governments from taking the risk. The efficiency of the solar panels depends on many factors, like the location and the angle in which they are installed. Therefore, researchers at TU Delft have now developed a calculation tool that can accurately calculate how long it takes to recoup the purchase of the panels.

RE-DWELL will train a new generation of academics and professionals to address the urgent need of affordable and sustainable housing, a major challenge for European societies. The large research project involves ten different universities and an innovative education programme across Europe.

Greenhouses use large amounts of natural gas for maintaining ideal crop growth conditions. BK Alumna Liesanne Wieleman and Jildou de Jong from the start-up Thermeleon, and researcher Martin Tenpierik received a Take-Off grant from NWO to conduct a study into the technical and financial feasibility of a new screening system, functioning as a passive heat battery. First results have shown a good potential for reducing the annual gas demand of the horticultural sector in the Netherlands.

Students Aleksandra Wróbel and Agnieszka Witaszek (Msc AUBS) and Kamil Owczarek (exchange students) designed the shelter, which can be folded and transported to the designated location on just one truck.

At TU Delft, various aspects of that energy use are being researched, with the aim of drastically reducing the use in urban areas and generating the remaining energy from sustainable sources. This research is now officially bundled in the Urban Energy Institute.