Realising sustainability ambitions

Against the background of a changing climate in the Netherlands, the municipality of Barendrecht is working on its future in collaboration with area partners the Municipalities of Albrandswaard and Ridderkerk. And as part of that future, Barendrecht wants to become an attractive municipality with a pleasant living environment. The municipality of Barendrecht therefore wants to make its sustainability ambitions concrete for the ‘Vrouwenpolder IV’ construction project so that it can realise a future-proof development location. The municipality has asked &Flux to guide the process in which the municipality wants to define realistic project ambitions for the Vrouwenpolder IV project. The Vrouwenpolder IV project involves the planned construction of approximately 125 homes. The project area includes 3 building blocks, a green block and a main watercourse that intersects the planning area.

The central question posed by the municipality is: ‘Which choices should we make in the field of sustainability and climate adaptation and how should we embed them in our process for the Vrouwenpolder IV project?’ The municipality’s sustainable ambitions relate to climate adaptation, circularity and climate-neutral and energy-neutral construction.

We are helping the municipality find answers to this question by translating its ambitions into a set of minimum requirements, supplemented with ambitions at a performance level on which chain partners can be challenged in the tendering procedure. We are also developing an overview of management options for the municipality so that it can make a decision in the next phase. To ensure that the developed scenarios are spatially, economically and technically feasible and are compatible with the next phase of the area development, this project is being implemented in collaboration with engineering firm Tauw.